When We Were Young
by QuartzClaw
Summary: A collection of one-shots about May, Gary, Drew, Paul, Ash, Misty, Leaf and Dawn from when they were from grades kindergarten up. Fuller summary inside.
1. Making Friends

**Hello! QuartzClaw here! And this is my first fanfiction. **

**Usually in AUs, Ash, Misty, Gary, Leaf, May, Drew, Paul, and Dawn are in high school. So I thought why not make a fanfic of when they were in lower grades? I'm going to make a collection one-shots of when they were from grades kindergarten to... well, I don't know.  
**

**These are going to take place in May's school, so they're going to be more ****centered ** around her. Not all of the characters are going to be in every one-shot, as not all of them were at the same school at the same time. Some characters will appear as new students in higher grades. These aren't in any specific order, so I'm going to write what grade each one-shot takes place in and which characters it includes at the top.  


**Okay, let's get started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Making Friends**

**Kindergarten**

**May (age 5), Drew (5), Paul (5), Gary (5)**

It was May's first day in kindergarten. Her mother led her into a large classroom filled with many colours and pictures. Many children May's age, who had already arrived, were sitting around large round tables, while others were walking around, exploring the room.

"Hello. I'm Ms. Kelly, the teacher. Nice to meet you!" May looked up to see her mother conversing with a young woman, who looked like she was in her 20s.

"Hi, I'm Caroline, and this is my daughter, May Maple." May's mother introduced her to the woman.

"Hello, May! I know we are going to be great friends! See those tables? You can choose a table and sit anywhere you like." Ms. Kelly bent down to address the little girl.

May shyly smiled. She liked her teacher. She was very nice and pretty.

"Now, May run along and make friends. I'll be back to pick you in a while. Oh, look! There's a boy sitting alone on that table. Why don't you go say hi to him?" May looked at where her mother was pointing and saw a boy with spiky brown hair at one of the tables.

"Bye sweetie!" Her mother waved goodbye as she left.

"Bye Mommy!" Most little girls would be afraid to be left alone in a new place. But May knew her Mommy was going to come back soon. The classroom looked very interesting, and she wanted to explore it. First, she made her way to the boy her mother had pointed to and sat down beside him.

"Hello! I'm May." she greeted him. She was never afraid to meet new people. The boy looked at her, and smiled. But it wasn't a nice smile, it was a mean smile.

"I'm Gary. And I'm the king of this table! You can't sit here unless I say so!" He smirked at her surprised expression. "And I say you can't!"

May was shocked. "But Ms. Kelly said I can sit anywhere I want." she protested.

"Not here! So go somewhere else!"

May scowled. She did not want to sit next to this boy anymore, but she was stubborn. She wasn't used to not having her way, with her Daddy spoiling her the way he did. "No!"

It was Gary's turn to be surprised. He could always push around other kids. Why couldn't he tell her what to do? "I said go away!"

"No!"

"Okay class!" Ms. Kelly clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Now that everyone is here, please come and sit on this mat!" There was a large, square mat with a chair in front of it. The children from around the room sat down on it.

"Now, most of you don't know each other, so we are going to do introductions. Each one of you is going to stand up at the front and tell us your name and something about yourself. Now doesn't that sound like fun!" She sat down on the chair.

One by one, the children came up to the front. Some were very shy and needed a lot of encouragement from Ms. Kelly, while others were eager to share their names.

A boy with green hair walked up after a couple of people. "My name is Andrew Hayden." he announced proudly. Having such a long name made him feel bigger and important, despite his small size. "I have a huge house and lots of teachers!"

"No, Ms. Kelly is only one teacher!" someone yelled out.

Andrew looked a bit confused. This wasn't the reaction he expected. "No, I have lots of teachers at home."

"You can't keep teachers!" someone else pointed out, leading to many snickers from the others.

"Now, class." Ms. Kelly warned sternly. "What Andrew means is that he has many tutors. A tutor is a teacher who can teach you at home." she explained. She turned to the green-haired boy. "Very nice to meet you, Andrew. Now take a seat."

After a while, it was Gary's turn. "I'm Gary! I have a big sister, and my grandpa is a famous scientist, and I'm the king of the class! You have to do what I say!" he bragged.

"No, Gary, no one is the king of the class. In a classroom, you have to do what the teacher says." Ms. Kelly corrected, putting an end to the "No fair!"s emerging from the other students.

May went up next. "My name is May! I have a little brother who is two, a daddy, and a mommy. I love chocolate, and my favourite colour is red!" She smiled proudly as she concluded and went back to her seat.

After some time, everybody had gone, or so it seemed.

"Has everyone had a turn?" Ms. Kelly looked at all the students. "Now then,... wait! Paul, what about you?" she directed her question at a boy with purple hair who was sitting alone at the very back.

"I don't want to." he mumbled.

"Come on, don't be shy..."

"I'm not shy!" That got him to the front. But after that, he just silently observed his feet.

"So what's your name?" Ms. Kelly decided to start him off.

"You know my name." he muttered.

"But the class doesn't. Why don't you tell them?"

The boy briefly glanced up before muttering "Paul."

"Now tell us something about yourself."

"Like what?" He sounded moody.

"You just moved to town, right?"

"Yes..."

"So you're new here. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"One brother."

"Yes, you have a big brother, don't you? Okay, you can sit down if you want." Paul was more than happy to.

"Now then, I want all of you to pick a table to sit at. Only four at each table, okay?" the teacher instructed.

The class was instantly filled with activity as everyone rushed to sit beside their new friends or at a spot they liked. Gary went back to the table he was sitting at first, and May stubbornly did too. Naturally, they got into a little argument about their sitting rights.

Andrew looked around uncertainly. He was an only child, and didn't get to meet with others his age often, so he had been really looking forward to making friends at his new school. But he did not know anyone here, and he was not sure where to start.

A table with only two others caught his eye. One of its occupants was a boy who looked a little mean, but the other was a friendly-looking girl. He was going to be friends with that girl, he decided. He took the seat next to her.

"Hello. I'm Andrew." he told her. He had always been taught politeness. It seemed the girl had just finished talking to the other boy about something. She turned to face him, and went from pouting at the other boy to beaming at Andrew.

"Hello Drew! My name is May!" This caused Andrew to frown a little.

"My name is Andrew." he corrected her.

"It's too long!" May complained.

"Paul, why don't you sit over here?" Ms. Kelly led the grumpy purple-head to the table. "You can sit with Andrew, May, and Gary."

"I don't want to."

"Paul, all the other tables are full, and you have to sit somewhere." Ms. Kelly told him a bit sternly. Paul begrudgingly took the last seat at the table.

"Okay class!" Ms. Kelly got everyone's attention. "For today, I'm going to hand out paper and a box of crayons to each table. I want everyone to draw a picture of something they like. It can be anything you want!"

As she handed out the paper and crayons, many of the students began discussing what they were going to draw.

"I'm going to make my house." Andrew said eagerly.

Gary only slouched with his arms folded, because his mood had been ruined by May's not doing what he said. Paul stayed quiet as well, until he noticed May staring at him.

"What?" he demanded.

"I'm going to make your hair!" May announced unexpectedly. "It's so pretty!"

Paul was taken aback. "What! My hair is not pretty!" he protested as if she had insulted him.

"Yes it is!" May giggled.

"No, it's not! It's normal hair!"

"It's pretty, purple hair!" May leaned over the table to ruffle it up. Paul swatted her hand away.

"No, you can't make my hair!" It was _his_ hair; he didn't allow her to draw it!

"Ms. Kelly said it can be anything we like, and I like your hair." she said in a final sort of way.

"My hair is nice too..." Andrew felt a bit left out. All of his nannies adored his hair, but it did not look like May did.

When the paper arrived, May and Andrew reached for the crayon box. It seemed, however, that Gary had snapped out of his moody state once he saw another chance to bully the others. He quickly grabbed to box and put it on his lap, having it all to himself.

"Gary, I want a purple crayon!" May whined.

Andrew looked serious. "You have to share."

"No." Gary was enjoying his little revenge.

"Ms. Kelly! Gary won't share!" May complained. The teacher arrived at the scene.

"Gary, please put the box in the middle of the table." she said sternly. When Gary looked reluctant, she added, "Or else you will have a time out!" This seemed to do the trick.

"What's a 'time out'?" May was curious.

"When someone is being naughty, or is not listening to the teacher, they have to sit alone in the corner and think about what they did wrong." Ms. Kelly explained.

May shuddered. It sounded scary, especially to someone who loved being in a group. She did not want to end up in the time out corner.

Soon, everyone was colouring. Well, almost everyone, anyways.

"What are you drawing, Gary?" May chirped as her purple crayon went back and forth on her page.

"My grandpa!" Gary answered, no longer attempting to hog the crayons.

"What about you, Drew?"

"My name is Andrew!" he corrected once again before answering, "I'm drawing my house."

"Paul," May frowned. "Why aren't you making anything."

"I don't want to." Paul's sheet was blank.

"Why?"

"I just don't!"

"Maybe you can draw your big brother." Andrew suggested. He felt a bit jealous of the other three because they had siblings, but not jealous enough to have any negative feelings toward them.

Paul seemed to consider the idea. Then, slowly, he reached for a crayon and got to work.

"My, what wonderful pictures you all drew!" Ms. Kelly complimented the class when everyone was done. Her students beamed at the praise.

"Can we take them home?" someone asked.

"Why, of course you can!" Ms. Kelly assured.

May was delighted. She loved kindergarten, she loved Ms. Kelly, and she loved her new friends. She would tell her Mommy all about it when she got home.

* * *

"May, your mom's here!" Ms. Kelly called out. Everyone's parents were now coming to pick them up. May frowned. She didn't want to go just yet; her friends were still here, and she wanted to spend some more time with them.

"May, we have to go." Caroline walked up to her daughter. "Oh, you made some friends?" she said, noting the other three. "That's great, sweetie! But we have to go now. You can meet them again tomorrow. Now, say bye to them!"

May smiled at the thought of meeting them again the next day. And then the next, and the next, and for the whole school year!

"Bye bye, Gary! Bye bye, Paul! Bye bye..." She hesitating before continuing. "An-drew."

Andrew thought for a second. "You can call me Drew if you want."

May beamed. And off she went with her mother, telling her all about her day, and especially about her new "bestest friends in the world".

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**And that's that! Tell me what you thought in your reviews. I accept both negative and positive criticisms.  
**

**I have a couple of ideas for future chapters, but not many. You can tell me if you have any suggestions.**

**I'm not completely sure about when I'm going to update. I'll try at least once a week, but it also depends on how many ideas I can think up. I'll tell you if I ever come up with a schedule.**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	2. Beautiful Hair

**Hello again! This is the second one-shot I'm doing. I was so happy with the results for the first one! I got a couple reviews, and they were enough to motivate me to write on and update as soon as possible.  
**

**They're still in kindergarten in this one. Maybe I'll do a different grade next time...**

**Anyways, let's get started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

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**Beautiful Hair  
**

**Kindergarten**

**May (5), Drew (5), Gary (5), Paul (5)**

May loved the colour purple. It wasn't her favourite colour (red was), but she still loved it. Her mother's eyes were blue, but they had a slight purple tinge to them, which was why she wore amethyst jewelry. May thought her Mommy's jewelry was the most beautiful she had ever seen.

This was also why May liked her friend Paul's hair. She thought his violet hair was the prettiest in the world from the moment she saw it. It made her want to have special hair too.

She was delighted on the day her mother sewed her a red bandana. Caroline had been doing some sewing, and had a small piece of red cloth left. It was too small to make clothes, but perfect for some head-wear for her little daughter.

May wore her new bandana on her head the next day to kindergarten. She held her head up high, hoping everyone would notice.

"My, what a beautiful bandana you are wearing!" Ms. Kelly, her teacher, complimented her.

"Thank you." said May proudly, not forgetting her manners.

She sat at the table she usually sat at, with her friends Gary, Drew, and Paul.

"That's a nice hat." Drew noted.

"It's a band-na. Mommy made it for me!" May explained. She look over at Paul. "See, Paul? Now I have pretty hair, too!"

"You don't have pretty hair. It's just a hat!" Gary pointed out, causing May to pout.

"It's a band-na! And it's like hair!" May was not going to let Gary ruin her mood today. She turned back to Paul, hoping to get a reaction.

Paul noticed her gaze. "What?"

"Do you like my new hair?"

"...I don't see anything different." Honestly speaking, Paul thought it was a very nice bandana, but he didn't like giving compliments.

When May looked downhearted, Drew spoke up. "I think your new hair is _gorgeous_!" He used the big word his nannies used to describe his hair. He wasn't sure what it exactly meant, but it always sounded like a good thing.

May looked a little better.

* * *

When recess time came, everybody went to the playground outside. Gary immediately went to the top of the biggest slide and began yelling that he was the king of the playground. Paul sat alone on the bench as usual. He never wanted to play. May went up to him.

"Do you notice _anything_ different?" she asked hopefully. This time, she had made sure her bandana was visible by checking the mirror in the washroom.

"Nope." Leading to a crushed May.

Drew watched the scene. He didn't get it! There was nothing special about Paul's hair; his green hair was just as nice. He boldly walked over to his two friends.

"Hi, May!" He flipped his hair to get her to notice it.

"Hi Drew." She acknowledged his presence, but not his hair. She turned back to her other friend. "Paul, are you sure?"

Drew flipped his hair another time, but once again, failed to get May's attention.

Suddenly, he felt frustrated. Without thinking, he snatched her bandana off her head and took off. May was startled. It took her a second before she realized what happened, and she started to chase her after him.

"Drew, give it back!" But Drew didn't listen. He ran as fast as he could until he was out of breath. He stopped beside a rosebush that was a short distance away from the playground.

"Drew!" May had caught up, huffing and puffing, and with a very angry look on her face. "Give it back!" She tried to take back her possession.

Drew, being too tired to run anymore, held it out of her reach. In an attempt to grab it, May stumbled and fell on the ground.

"Owww..." she whimpered as a tiny speck of red appeared on her knee. Drew immediately felt ashamed, and handed back her bandana. But it was too late.

Drew panicked when he saw tears welling up in May's eyes. He hadn't meant for her to get hurt, and he was really sorry. Now she was going to cry, and he would get in trouble. Would Ms. Kelly put him in the time out corner?

Something caught his eye. The bush beside him was covered in bright, red roses! He knew what to do.

He plucked the most beautiful rose he could see. It was covered in thorns, which scratched his hands, and he knew that they would probably hurt May too. He got to work removing the thorns from the stem the best he could before handing the flower to May.

May squealed as she took it, the small cut on her knee forgotten. Drew felt a sense of accomplishment. Even though his hands hurt now, he had managed to prevent May from crying. It was the most heroic thing he ever did.

"May? Drew? What are you two doing all the way here?" Ms. Kelly had noticed their absence and had come searching for them. When she saw the state they were in, she gasped. "Oh dear! May, what happened to your knee? And Drew, your hands!"

May giggled. "Drew gave me a flower!"

"That was sweet of you, Drew, but next time, try getting a flower without thorns!" She quickly took both of her students indoors to clean up their "injuries".

* * *

The four friends sat at their table, waiting for their parents to come pick them up. May's bandana had been re-placed on her head with the help of Ms. Kelly. She now also had a band-aid on her knee, while Drew had multiple on his hands.

May twirled the red rose that Drew had given her. She had made sure to take good care of the pretty little gift.

"Drew?" Drew looked up at her. "Can you put this flower in my band-na?" Drew happily complied, tucking the stem into the side of the red cloth. May smiled widely when he was done.

She had, no doubt, the most beautiful hair in the world.

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**Second one complete! **

**So like I said before, I might do a different grade next time. ****Oh, and if you have any ideas on future one-shots, feel free to share them.**

**Bye bye for now! Have a smiling day! :)**


	3. My Bike!

**Yay! I'm so happy with my great reviews! It makes me want to write more and more! Still no update schedule, but I have some good ideas for one-shots, and I feel like writing everyday. That positive feedback from you guys has really got me motivated, so thanks!**

**Now let's move on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

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**My Bike!**

**(Almost) Grade Two  
**

**May (7), Ash (7), Misty (7)**

It was a warm August day, perfect for spending time at the park. And that was exactly where May was going right now.

After a long day of shopping, Caroline decided to take her daughter to the park for a while as a reward for good behaviour. Of course, May was more than pleased.

The minute she stepped out of the car, May dashed to the playground up ahead. Ah, it was so nice to finally be released from that shopping mall-prison! May had been starting to feel claustrophobic.

"Hey, May!" The girl turned around to see a familiar boy wearing a baseball cap making his way to her. It was Ash, a new friend she had made at the start of grade one.

"Ash, you're here too?" This was great! Not only did she get to play at the park, but she could with one of her best friends.

"Yup! My house is pretty close to here, so I come here all the time." Ash said, pointing at one of the houses across the road.

"You're so lucky! There aren't any parks around my house."

Ash grinned. "Well, since we're both here, wanna go play? My mom said I should have invited Gary so I can have playmate, but, you know, he's not the best to have fun with."

May understood. She knew too well how Gary became on the playground. Bossy, mean, and always making you do what he said. Gary's and Ash's parents were friends, so the two boys already knew each other before Ash switched to her school. And they did _not_ get along. That hadn't stopped May from making Ash her new friend, though.

They spent the next ten minutes running around playing tag, while their mothers got acquainted. But after a while, May noticed something interesting.

"Tag! You're it!" Ash tagged her as he ran past. He continued running for a few seconds before realizing that he was not being chased. He turned around to see that his friend hadn't budged from her place.

"May!" he called out. He didn't dare come close. It could be a trick to get him tagged. But May didn't respond, and instead stared the other way. Ash slowly approached her, as he was getting bored waiting.

"Whose that?" Once he was right next to her, she pointed at someone. He followed her gaze and saw who she was looking at.

"Oh that? That's Misty." Ash informed her. "She moved here in my neighbourhood last month. She's pretty cool. Much better to play with than Gary. I think she might start the same school as us."

May observed the new girl. She looked about her age, had orange hair tied in a side ponytail, and was riding a shiny blue bike. Upon more careful examination, May discovered something fascinating.

Misty was riding her bike _without training wheels!_

May admired how she balanced on the two-wheeler, how she turned to move around obstacles, how her bicycle glistened in the sunlight...

"It's a pretty cool bike, right?" Ash said dreamily. "I'm gonna ask my mom to get me one like that for my birthday."

Misty stopped pedaling after a while, and parked her bicycle beside an empty bench.

"Daisy!" she called out to a teenage girl who was chatting with her friend under the shade of a tree. "Do you have my water-bottle?"

"Yeah, like, it's right here!" Daisy called back.

"Can you give it to me? I'm thirsty!"

"Misty, I'm, like, busy right now! Come get it yourself!" Misty scowled as she raced over to her sister to get a drink.

Meanwhile, May and Ash were still standing in place, staring at where Misty had left her bike. It was like it was taunting them, daring them to come closer to have a look. Eventually, Ash gave in. He began walking toward it so he could have a quick look before its owner returned.

"Ash, you shouldn't touch it without asking!" May knew how annoying it was when someone took something without permission. Her little brother Max did it all the time.

"I'm not gonna, I just want to see it." Ash explained. May cautiously came closer, but not as close as her friend.

"Ash!" she called worriedly in a loud whisper.

"Don't worry, May." he assured her. He regarded the bike with adoration. The shiny blue bike, its black seat at his level...

The temptation was too strong. Ash grabbed the handlebars and swung his leg over the seat so that he was now sitting on it.

"Ash, what are you doing! You said you wouldn't touch it!"

"Relax, May. I'm Misty's _friend_. She probably won't mind if I rode it for a little while."

"Are you sure?" May sounded dubious.

"Positive."

"Do you know how to ride without training wheels?"

"Of course I do, almost. My mom was saying she should take off the training wheels so I can practise riding by myself."

"What if you fall? Your mom isn't even watching."

"I won't fall." Ash said confidently. May ran out of arguments, so she settled with watching him nervously.

Ash sat up straight, put his foot on the pedal, and was about to take off, when-

"Hey! What are you doing!" Misty had returned. Her voice startled Ash, and he quickly jumped off, causing the bicycle to fall down onto the pavement.

May let out a squeak before covering her mouth with both her hands. Misty was going to get so angry! Ash seemed to realize this too.

"S-sorry! I-I was just..." he stammered. But the ginger didn't let him finish.

"My new bike! Ash, I never said you could touch it!" Misty bent over to pick it up and observe the damage. "It's ruined! My brand-new bike is ruined!" she hollered.

"I'm sorry, Mist. Really!" Misty got up and glared at him, clearly not forgiving him that easily.

"You have to get me a new one!" she demanded.

"What? It was an accident!" The poor boy was now wishing he had listened to May.

"I don't care! It was brand-new, and you ruined it!"

"Like, Misty, what are you shouting about?" Daisy appeared, attracted by the noise.

"He ruined my bike!" Misty accused, pointing at Ash.

"I'm sorry!" Ash apologized yet again.

Daisy sighed and took a look at the damage.

"Misty, like, is _this_ what you're whining about? It's just a scratch. It'll, like, still work and stuff."

"But it was new...!"

"Yeah, well, all bikes get scratched. It can't, like, stay new forever. Anyways, it's, like, time to go." Daisy managed to end her sister's complaints. She did not, however, improve her mood.

"You still have to get me a new bike." Misty muttered to Ash as she passed by him. Soon, she, her bike, and her sister were out of sight.

"She's kinda scary." May commented quietly.

"Nah, she's pretty fun when she's not angry." Ash explained. He still looked a bit shaken up from the scolding she had given him.

"Is she really going to go to the same school as us?" May asked hesitantly.

"I think so." Ash confirmed. "I think she will be in grade two too."

May stayed silent for a minute, debating whether Misty would make a good classmate or not. When she didn't get an answer from her pondering, she walked up to Ash. He looked at her.

"What is it?" he asked.

May lifted her hand, and suddenly gave him a pat on his arm.

"Tag, you're it!" Ash stood there stunned for a moment as he watched his friend run away from him. He began to remember what they had been doing before Misty had come along.

"No fair!" he yelled as he went after her, continuing their game.

* * *

**So this one's for Ash and Misty. I have my next one thought out too, so all I have to do is write it out.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! Have a smiling day! :)**


	4. Picture Perfect

**Hello, and welcome back! I'm getting so many great reviews, not to mention the follows and favs. It makes me feel sooo successful! Thanks everyone!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

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**Picture Perfect**

**Grade Three  
**

**May (8), Drew (8), Gary (9), Paul (9), Ash (9), Misty (9), Dawn (8)**

Today was class photo day, and May, along with the other girls in her class, was in the washroom, making sure she was looking her best.

May checked her bandana to make sure it was straight. Beside her, Misty was re-doing her side ponytail. Slowly, as the girls finished, they began heading out the door to rejoin the class. May was about to leave too, but then she noticed that someone was not done. Dawn was still fixing her hair.

Dawn was new that year, and May and the others had accepted her as part of their friend group. The school year was close to being over (less than three months left!), and they were really building up their friendship. May thought it would build up even more if she waited for her instead of leaving.

"You can go." May told her friend Misty, gesturing to Dawn with her head. "I'll catch up." Misty, understanding what she meant, nodded and left.

Soon, Dawn and May were the only ones left in the washroom.

"Hurry up, Dawn!" May urged. "They're going to leave without us."

"No need to worry, I'm almost done!" Dawn, who had a brush with her, gave her hair a few more strokes. "My hair just needs a little more brushing."

"It already looks fine!" May insisted.

"Just fine? It needs to look perfect! Class photos are so everyone can keep a picture of their class and remember everybody else. We're probably going to keep this picture forever, so I want to be at my best!"

"But you already look great. And if you don't hurry up, we might not even be in the picture!"

Dawn sighed, finally giving in. After a final few strokes, and posing in the mirror, she was ready to go. The two girls exited the washroom and followed the rest of their class to the assembly hall, where the class photos were taking place.

"Everyone's looking great!" Dawn whispered to May as they walked. "I can tell Drew really cleaned up for today. He's always pretty neat and tidy, but today he looks extra well-dressed. Even Misty's wearing nicer clothes than usual, instead of her usually sporty outfit. Gary's hair is extra spiky today! He probably took hours doing it. How to you think he makes it like that? Looks like Ash's mom might have forced him into those clothes; I know he would never wear them himself."

May listened as Dawn chattered away. In the time she had known her, she had discovered Dawn loved to chat and look her best, especially when it came to her hair. Kind of reminded May of a "hair phase" she herself went through in kindergarten. Now, why was it that she had become obsessed with her hair back then?

"May, look!" Dawn whispered, sounding a bit furious, as if some big injustice had been made. "Paul hasn't gotten ready for today at all! He's wearing his plain-old everyday clothes. And did he even _try_ to brush his hair?"

May glanced up ahead to see Paul. He was within hearing distance, and May hoped he hadn't overheard what Dawn had just said. But the increased scowl on his face showed that he had, and May felt a bit guilty.

Soon, the photographer was arranging the students for the picture. A very uncomfortable-looking Ash (because of his neat, but tight clothes) was put on the front bench, as were Dawn, May, and a very handsome-looking Drew.

Drew had evidently taken extra time to get ready that morning. He was wearing a dress-suit with a tie, and his hair had been combed well. He had resisted the temptation to flip it all day, just so he wouldn't mess up the good job his hairdressers did. He wasn't sure why he always flipped it; it was just a habit.

Gary, Misty, and Paul were made to stand in the back row, since they were taller. Like Dawn had pointed out, Gary's hair was done better than usual, and he was wearing brand new clothes, courtesy of his older sister, Daisy.

While Misty was not wearing a dress or anything frilly, her clothes were very nice on her. They consisted of a blue shirt with a little bit of sequence, and new jeans that did not look roughed up, as the jeans Misty usually wore did.

But Paul? He wore the clothes he always did. Dawn, who was sitting in front of him, turned around to face him.

"Did you forget today was picture day?" she asked sympathetically. _Maybe his mom didn't know he had to get extra-ready for today. _she thought.

Paul glared in return. He didn't forget, he just never bothered about it. He did not want anyone feeling sorry for him!

"Okay everyone, smile!" Dawn faced the front again, and smiled directly at the camera. She looked perfect; this picture was going to be really special!

"Okay, on three! One..."

Dawn's nose began to twitch. No, she couldn't sneeze now!

"Two..."

She tried her best to hold it down, but it was too difficult.

"And three!"

"ACHOO!"

Snap!

* * *

Later, on the walk back, May and Misty were trying to make Dawn feel better about the unfortunate event.

"Maybe he took the picture after you sneezed." Misty said.

"And he took three pictures. Maybe he'll choose one of the other pictures instead." May pointed out, even though it was unlikely. Dawn's sneeze had been a big distraction, so many of the students were looking the wrong way on the second and third time.

Dawn smiled shakily. "Y-yeah! N-no need to worry!"

* * *

The day came for the class to receive their class photos. The teacher handed out the pictures at the start of recess. Many of the students, after observing it, glanced in Dawn's direction and snickered.

When said girl decided to see how it had turned out, her heart fell. Everyone in the picture looked so nice, smiling and all. Even Paul managed to erase some of his usual scowl to look decent.

But Dawn was a different story. The camera had caught her right in mid-sneeze. Her head was tilted back, her eyes closed, and her mouth open. She did not look nice at all!

"Sneezy Dee-Dee! Sneezy Dee-Dee!" someone yelled, pointing at the poor girl.

"Sneezy Dee-Dee! Sneezy Dee-Dee!" Others joined in. Tears began to well up in Dawn's eyes.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" May stood up for her friend, but no one listened to her.

"Didn't you hear her? She said stop it!" Misty shouted, with far more success.

Dawn's friends huddled around to comfort her.

"It isn't too bad. Everyone will forget about it later." May attempted to convince her.

"And we will be taking a lot of other pictures next year and the years after. You can just look extra good next time to make up for this one." Drew suggested.

"Act like you don't care. The others will stop bothering you that way." Misty advised.

"You can't even tell that it's you. Even if someone does keep it, they'll forget who it was, so it's not like they will bug you about it forever." Gary joked.

"Yeah, like you say, no need to worry!" Ash put in.

Dawn started to feel a little better, until Paul decided to voice his opinion.

"It's so ugly!" he said, grinning broadly. "I'm gonna keep it for the rest of my life and write your name on it so I won't forget it's you!"

Dawn burst into tears and ran from the room. The other five glared at their friend.

"What?" Paul did not feel sorry at all.

"That was mean, Paul. Go apologize!" May ordered.

"I was just being honest, unlike you guys. It's not _my_ fault she's such a cry-baby!" he tried to justify. But the others wouldn't have it.

When they went outside, Gary ran to the playground as usual, not really caring about what had just happened. Paul used to sit alone when he was younger, but he later discovered that he liked being around his friends too. Not that he'll ever admit that. But today, May, Misty, Drew, and even Ash turned their backs on him.

"We're not playing with you until you go find Dawn and say sorry!" Misty declared.

Paul was surprised, but quickly switched to being angry. "Fine! I don't care!" He stomped off.

He was not going to apologize to anyone! Dawn started it; she was making fun of him before the picture (it had sounded like that to him anyways). It was _her_ fault she let what he said upset her. His older brother teased him all the time, but _he_ never ran away crying.

"Sneezy Dee-Dee! Sneezy Dee-Dee!" Up ahead, Paul saw a couple of kids from his class continuing the chant from earlier. They were standing around someone who was sitting on the ground against a tree.

Dawn was hugging her knees with her face down, trying her best to follow Misty's advice. So far, it was not working, and only upsetting her further.

Paul felt a twinge of annoyance. They always teased each other in his group of friends; it was normal. But Dawn was a part of the group too, now, and he didn't like seeing other kids making fun of her the way they were.

"Go away!" He marched up behind them, startling them. "I said go away!" he shouted again, with an intimidating glare. They cleared out, frightened of the boy.

Dawn didn't look up, and Paul was left standing awkwardly in front of her. He was unsure of what to do, but something told him he shouldn't leave. After a short silence, Dawn peeked at him.

"What do you want?" she asked, glumly.

"Nothing..." He rocked back and forth on his feet a little. There was another silence, but it was much shorter this time.

"Are you really going to keep that picture?"

Paul considered her question for a moment before answering. "Yes."

Dawn let out a groan and hid her face again, but he continued.

"I like remembering my friends from school, and this year was special because I made a new one. It would be too boring to have an every-day picture for that. So, it's nice to have a different kind of picture this year. But the good kind of different."

Dawn looked up. "Am I really your friend?" she asked hopefully, sounding happier after hearing his explanation.

Paul didn't like admitting these kinds of things, but he knew the others wouldn't talk to him until Dawn was happy again. "...Yes."

The little girl's face shone as she got up.

Later, at home, she set her class photo on her desk. She and Paul didn't look their best that day, but they were perfect for the picture.

* * *

**It was Dawn's turn today. My next one should have Leaf make her debut. Hmmm, I like writing about when they were in kindergarten the most so far. It's fun making them cute five-year-olds.  
**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye! And have a smiling day! :)  
**


	5. Birthday Party

**A hello to all readers! My fifth one-shot is done and ready for reading. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size.**

* * *

**Birthday Party  
**

**Kindergarten**

**May (5), Drew (5), Paul (6), Gary (6), Ash (5), Leaf (5)  
**

May looked around in delight. It was Gary's sixth birthday, and she, along with the rest of her kindergarten class, had been invited to his house for a party. It would be her first time being at a party without her Mommy around. Paul already had his birthday, but he didn't have a party for some reason.

"Hi May." Gary ran up to her, wearing a shirt that said 'I Come First!' on the front. He eyed the gift bag her mother was holding. "Whatcha get me?"

"It's a surprise~!" May sang.

"Hello! You must be May's mom." A girl, who looked like she was in her early teens, greeted Caroline.

"Daisy!" Gary looked at the girl, pointing at the gift May had brought. "Put that with my other presents!"

"Gary!" Daisy scolded. But he had already grabbed May's hand and was dragging her away with him.

"Slow down!" May protested until they finally stopped.

"Look!" He pointed at a large pile of gift boxes and gift bags. "Those are all for me!" he explained, grinning at his friend's wide eyes.

May regarded the presents enviously. She would invite the whole class to her birthday party too, she decided.

"May, you're here!" Drew emerged from the crowd and made his way over to them. "You're not wearing your band-na." he noted.

May had her hair in two pigtails, tied with red ribbons that matched her red dress. But her beloved bandana had not been forgotten.

"It's right here." She held up her hand to show him the red cloth tied around her wrist. "It's a bracelet today!"

"Oh." Drew seemed to comprehend her logic.

"Look at what Drew got me!" Gary showed-off a particularly large gift box.

"Wow..." May admired.

"Gary, your friend is here!" Daisy called her little brother, who looked confused.

May and Drew followed him to the door. A scowling Paul was standing there, with an older boy, who looked Daisy's age, behind him. Paul's scowl became bigger when he saw them arrive.

"You said you weren't coming!" Gary accused him. The day when Gary was handing out the invitations, Paul had announced that he won't come because he didn't like parties. This had led to a huge argument between the two, because Gary felt insulted that one of his best friends didn't want to come.

"My brother made me." Paul grumbled.

Paul's brother, who had a much more friendly face and his hair tied back, was in a conversation with Daisy.

"Reggie! Didn't expect you to be here. You're Paul's brother? Gary was going on and on about how his friend said he wasn't coming!"

"Yah, Paul's not really social, but I thought it would be good for him. Oh, and by the way, did you finish your math homework?"

"No, not yet. I was thinking of doing it tomorrow on Sunday. Why?"

"I will only say this: watch out for number ten."

"Thanks for the tip. Anyways, bye now!"

"Bye Daisy. And bye Paul. Have fun, little bro!" Paul didn't wave back.

"Wait!" Gary broke off his glaring contest with Paul when he remembered something. "You all have to meet my bestest friend!" He led the three to the family room.

May and Drew looked at each other. "I thought _we_ were his bestest friends..." May mused.

They stopped in front of two people May did not recognize, as they were not from her class. One was a girl with brown hair and green eyes, while the other was a boy with black hair and brown eyes. Gary introduced them to the girl.

"This is Leafy." he presented. "She lives in the house beside me. Leafy, this is May, Drew, and... Paul." He said Paul's name a bit less enthusiastically, probably because he was still a bit mad at him.

"Hi, Leafy!" May greeted cheerfully. Leafy giggled.

"My name is Leaf." she corrected. May frowned a bit.

"But Gary said-"

"He calls me 'Leafy' 'cause it sounds more like 'Gary'." she explained. That made sense to May.

"Hi Leaf. I'm Drew." Drew greeted her too. "Gary," he then addressed his friend in a serious tone. "You said _we_ were your bestest friends. But now you're saying _she_ is."

"She's my _first_ bestest friend. You're my bestest friends from kindergarten." Gary informed him.

"Who are you?" May asked curiously as she noticed the black-haired boy. He smiled at her.

"My name is Ash!" he said, his voice just as cheerful as May's.

"Are you Gary's friend too?" Drew asked curiously. Gary scowled.

"No! I didn't want Ash-boy to come. Grandpa made me invite him!" Ash looked a bit upset.

"'Leafy' doesn't sound like 'Gary'." Paul spoke up suddenly.

"Yes it does!" Gary insisted.

"No it doesn't." Paul was adamant in his opinion.

"Yes it does!" the brunet argued. He was already annoyed at Paul. Now, he was even angrier at him.

"Everyone, it's time for games!" Daisy announced, having pretty good control over the little kids. Everybody gathered in the family room, where Daisy and an elderly man were arranging chairs in the middle of the room.

"Who's that old man?" May whispered loudly to Gary. Gary looked too annoyed at Paul to answer, so Leaf did for him.

"He's Gary's grandpa." she explained. "Don't worry, he's really nice. He doesn't take naps, so you don't have to be quiet all the time. And he doesn't tell you to stop watching TV and go outside." She thought he was much more fun than her own grandpa.

The first game they played was musical chairs. Despite Paul's reluctance to play, he joined in because Gary started bragging about how he always won. The music started, and everyone began going around the chairs. The group playing became smaller and smaller as more and more people failed to get a seat after the music ended.

May thought she was doing very well, until part-way through the game, her bandana-bracelet slipped off her wrist. She was too busy picking it up to notice that the music had stopped and someone took her seat. She was fine with cheering from the sidelines though.

"Go Drew, go Gary, go Paul!" she cheered, unable to decide who she wanted to win. Drew, unfortunately, lost because Leaf had quickly stolen his seat.

"Sorry Drew!" she said in a sing-song voice. "But I always win this game!"

Paul faced Gary, smirking. "You said _you_ always win this game."

"I do!" Gary insisted. But the music had begun again and his friend had already moved on ahead.

After a while, it became evident that neither Gary nor Leaf were lying when they said that they were good at musical chairs, although the champion had yet to be determined. There were only two chairs left, and the finalists were Gary, Leaf, and, surprisingly, Paul. He probably really didn't want to lose to Gary.

The music started, and the three began circling the chairs. Once it ended, Paul managed to sit down first, as he was right beside a seat. Leaf and Gary both dove for the last one, though Leaf got there first. She sat proudly on her throne, swinging her legs, and sticking her tongue out at her shocked friend.

"No fair!" Gary yelled. "I was going to sit there!"

"But I got here first." Leaf pointed out.

"But it's my birthday!" he hollered.

Paul looked amused at his tantrum, and decided to make it worse. "I thought you said you _always_ win."

This caused Gary to start screaming that Leaf had cheated, although she clearly hadn't. Paul smirked, satisfied with his reaction.

"Gary, do you need a time-out?" Daisy became stern.

May gasped. They had time-outs here, too? No wonder Gary had already known what a time-out was before Ms. Kelly had explained it.

Gary stopped screaming and sulked. "But it's my birthday!" he whined.

"Well, you don't want a time-out on your birthday, do you?" Daisy made her point. Her brother went to one of the couches and slumped down on it after shoving off Ash, who had previously been its occupant.

The music resumed. May cheered Paul on, but she cheered a bit too much, in Drew's opinion. He unconsciously flipped his hair.

In the end, Leaf, being quick on her feet, won. Her opponent didn't look the least bit disappointed, as he had immensely enjoyed getting past Gary, and then watching him get upset.

They continued on with games for a while. To Gary's dismay, Paul refused to join in anymore, as he had seen that Gary's bragging was all just talk, and did not feel the need to prove him wrong again. Gary threw another tantrum, trying to get him to change his mind, until Daisy jumped in. His hopes of getting his revenge against Paul were shattered.

* * *

Soon, it was time for cake. The youngsters all gathered in the dining room, where a large chocolate cake was waiting on the table. It was covered in white cream, with 'Happy Birthday Gary!' written on in green icing. Gary's grandpa lit its six candles. Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' as the birthday-boy glowed with the amount of attention he was receiving. Even Paul mumbled along, after receiving a hard nudge from Drew.

After the candles had been blown out, Gary's grandpa cut slices of cake and put them in plates. Daisy was about to hand them out, when her brother asked if he could.

Gary held a plate in his hands and looked to see who was first in line. An eager Ash reached for the dessert.

"Thank you!" he said, but only to get a sneer in return.

"No, you have to go to the back of the line."

"Why?" Ash was confused.

"Because it's my birthday and I said so." Daisy and Gary's grandpa were working on cutting the cake, so they didn't notice. The poor boy had to obey.

"Leafy!" Gary called out. "This is for you, 'cause you're my bestest friend." Leaf happily took the first piece.

Gary handed out the next plates to May and Drew before hesitating with Paul. He was still angry at him, but he was his friend. Should he give him some, or send him to the back like Ash? Before he could decide, Paul spoke up.

"I don't want any."

Gary had had enough. Paul had offended him enough times already; he was _not_ going to let himself get insulted again.

"No, you have to have my birthday cake!" He tried to hand over the plate, but failed.

"No, it's too sweet. I don't like it." Paul eyed it with disgust.

"You have to! It's my birthday!" Gary began raising his voice as he shoved it at his friend.

"No!"

"Gary, what is it now?" Daisy had noticed the commotion and appeared, sounding tired.

"He won't have my birthday cake!"

"I don't want it!"

"Gary, if Paul doesn't want any cake, he doesn't have to have it."

Paul smirked triumphantly. Gary was frustrated.

"I'm never going to invite you to my birthday party again!" he declared.

"Good. I don't want to come." Paul stuck his nose in the air. This only infuriated the boy further, as it was not the reaction he had expected.

"Umm, if Paul doesn't want his piece, can I have it?" May asked timidly. _She_ liked chocolate cake, even if her friend didn't. With all the commotion going on, this went unheard.

"Ash, why are you at the back?" Daisy asked when she saw the black-haired boy.

"Gary said I have to go to the back of the line." Ash explained glumly.

Daisy let out an exasperated sigh. This was turning out to be much more tiring than it usually did.

"You know, maybe _I_ should be the one to hand out the cake..."

* * *

It was time for Gary's favourite part of the party. Opening presents! He threw wrapping paper off new toys, games, and clothes very enthusiastically, although he wasn't afraid to show some displeasure at receiving clothes. Fortunately, Daisy's gaze kept his complaining at a minimum. He opened his friends' gifts last.

"Wow!" He uncovered a collection of many different board games from the gift box Drew had brought. He wasn't really the type of kid to sit down and do something quietly, but receiving so many things in one box felt better than getting just one.

"Say 'thank you'." his sister reminded him.

"Thanks, Drew!" he said without looking at him. Instead he turned to face Leaf. "You can come over to play with my new toys tomorrow." Gary didn't often share, but he always did with Leaf. They had known each other since they were babies, after all. Leaf sat up proudly, feeling lucky to be his next-door neighbour.

Next came May's present. Gary marveled at the car racetrack set she had brought. Next, he opened a big red remote-control car from Paul, and, finally, a huge sticker book from Leaf, filled with hundreds of different colourful stickers.

"Thank you everyone!" Gary said out loud, after his sister once again reminded him to. He seemed more interested in his new toys, though.

It was then that Paul stood up and walked over the the birthday-boy. Daisy noticed a glint in his eyes as he smirked, and decided to keep an eye at them.

"Now I have to give you _my_ present." he said mysteriously.

"Gary already opened your present." Daisy pointed out, confused.

"My brother made me get that." Paul explained. "But this is what I _really_ wanted to give you."

"Oh no, you don't have to-" Daisy was cut off by her brother, who sounded both eager at getting another gift and suspicious at Paul's sudden niceness.

"What are you gonna give me?" he questioned.

Paul's smirk widened. "Birthday beats!"

Daisy had to cover her mouth to hide her amused smile. Of course she wasn't going to let any actual fighting go on, but she wanted to see her brother's reaction.

Gary expression turned to one of confusion. "What's that?"

"When it's someone's birthday, you have to hit them. You're six now, so I have to hit you six times." Paul explained. Gary's eyes widened.

"No! You can't hit me or I'll... I'll hit _you_!"

"I have to. It's the rules. And you can't hit me because it's not my birthday."

"No!" Gary yelled. "Daisy, he's gonna hit me!"

Daisy decided it was time to jump in. "Sorry Paul, there are no 'birthday-beat rules'. Some people just do it for fun, but you guys can't." Paul tilted his head.

"But my brother does it all the time."

"Yeah, the guys in my class are always doing stuff like that. But they are big kids, so, I'm sorry, but you're not old enough to yet." Daisy tried to sound as less insulting to the boy as possible. She knew most kids didn't like being called little.

"Oh, okay." Daisy was surprised at how understanding the six-year-old was. But the glint in his eyes had not disappeared as he turned to Gary.

"Gary, you're not old enough for birthday beats. You're too little." he informed him calmly.

Daisy had to use all of her strength to restrain herself from bursting out laughing. It was hilarious watching Gary's face as he struggled with the decision of either admitting that he was too little to avoid getting hit, or insisting that he was old enough so Paul could carry out his "gift". Was this cunning boy really just six? She assumed he had picked up some stuff from his brother.

"You're six too! If I'm too little, then you're too little!" Gary managed to reason. Paul shook his head.

"No, I'm old enough. My brother gives me birthday beats on _my_ birthday."

Daisy raised her eyebrows. Reggie probably just did it lightly. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

When she could sense another tantrum from Gary on its way, she quickly announced the time.

"Okay, everyone, it's nearly five o'clock. Your parents would soon be here, so please start getting ready!"

* * *

More and more parents came to pick up the children, until there was only a small group left.

The next man to arrive looked like a butler, and he asked for "Young Master Andrew". May, Gary, and Paul said goodbye to their friend as he left in one of those long, fancy cars that May loved so much. Drew had said that they were called "limo-seens".

Eventually, Gary started to become bored, and asked his grandpa to open one of the board games Drew had brought for him. Ash, Leaf, May, and Gary crowded around as the old scientist explained how to play Checkers. Paul just watched from a distance.

Gary refused to let Ash play with him, but to his dismay, May and Leaf thought it was a bit boring. The ended up opening a Monopoly board game box (again, from Drew) and playing with its pieces, making a small city. Gary was going to ask Ash to play with him as a last resort, but turned out he had joined the girls in their game. Gary was starting to feel left out, and reluctantly eyed his last friend available.

"Do you want to play Checkers?" he asked Paul a bit hopefully.

Paul was still holding a grudge from their earlier quarrels, so he felt he should refuse. However, after seeing Gary's hopeful expression, free from most of the arrogance it usually showed, he changed his mind.

"Okay." He actually really did want to play Checkers, as he had found it interesting when Gary's grandpa was explaining it.

After some time, the bell rang again.

"Hiya, Daisy!" Reggie greeted as she opened the door.

"Paul, your brother's here!" she called out.

"Okay." Paul answered without looking up from his game with Gary, which they had ended up playing in their own creative way.

"So, Reggie..." Daisy suddenly remembered. "Paul was saying something about receiving birthday beats from you." She raised an eyebrow as if telling him to explain.

"Oh!" Reggie chuckled. "Nah, I don't really hurt him or anything. You know, just shoving him around a bit." When Daisy looked exasperated, he continued.

"Don't worry, it's nothing he can't take! Besides, I let him do it to me as well. Trust me, he may be small, but he can hit _hard_."

Daisy shook her head. _Must be a boy thing._ she thought.

"Hey, Paul!" Reggie called out, realizing his brother wasn't at his side yet. "We have to go!"

"Wait, I'm winning." Paul was extremely focused on the intense match.

"Awww, let them finish their game!" Daisy said, thinking the two of them were looking very cute. Until...

"No, _I'm_ winning!" Gary 'corrected'.

"No, you're not. I know how to play this better than you."

"No, you don't! It's my game!"

"On second thought... maybe it _is_ getting a bit late." Daisy had changed her mind.

After a few more minutes, another parent arrived. May heard someone call her name.

"May, it's time to go, honey." May looked up from her game to see that her Mommy had arrived at the door.

"Can I stay a little longer? I'm having so much fun!"

"Sorry, sweetie, but we have to go."

"Mie!" May's baby brother, Max, who was being carried by his mother, joined the conversation.

May eventually had to give in, but her mood improved when she was handed a goody-bag before leaving. After wishing one last happy birthday to her friend, she got into her car, updating her mother on all the events that had occurred.

* * *

**And done! This one was a bit long. I had a lot of fun writing it, though.  
**

**I didn't put as much of Leaf in it as I would have liked. What do you guys think? **

**Also, I finally thought out a schedule. I'm always tempted to post a new story every time I finish writing one, which explains why I've been updating every day so far. But I finally decided that I'm going to update twice a week instead, so I don't use up all my ideas at once. How does Monday and Thursday sound to you guys? If you would prefer different days, let me know.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! If all goes well, my next update should be on Monday. See you then!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	6. Naming the Months

**Hello, readers! Okay, I know I said I'd update next on Monday, but I couldn't resist. I had this one ready, and I really wanted to update. This one is a bit shorter than usual, so it wouldn't have felt right making you guys wait till Monday when it's not even that long. Besides, I said I'd update on Mondays and Thursdays. Well, today is Thursday! So enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Naming the Months**

**Grade One**

**May (6), Drew (6), Gary (6), Paul (6), Ash (6)**

It was in grade one that Drew made an interesting discovery.

Drew always heard the names of the months around, whether a tutor was telling him that school started in September, or his father was emphasizing to someone on the phone to do whatever it takes to get something done by January. He found it very confusing to remember all the names, especially since a bunch of them ended in '-ember', while some others ended with '-ary'. They sounded similar, so it was easy to mix them up.

When his grade one teacher, Mrs. Thomas, announced that the class would have to learn all the names in the correct order for a quiz the next week, Drew was worried. It sounded hard, and even with his tutors, he wasn't sure if he could remember properly.

Mrs. Thomas started off by reciting the names of all the months slowly and clearly. Suddenly, part-way through, she randomly called out the name of one of his friends.

"...March. April. May..." Drew's friend, May, didn't react. Maybe she didn't hear? So Drew, being the good friend he was, reached out to where she was sitting in the desk in front of him and tapped her shoulder. She turned around.

"May, the teacher called you." he told her. Before she could reply, Mrs. Thomas appeared beside them.

"Drew, there is no talking in class." she informed him sternly.

"B-but... I was just telling May that you called her. I don't think she heard you." he explained nervously. To his relief, Mrs. Thomas smiled.

"Actually, Drew, 'May' is also the name of a month, not just your friend."

"Really?" This was news to him.

"Yes, and my birthday is in May!" May giggled.

"Now that that's straight, why don't I continue?" Mrs. Thomas returned to the front of the class to go on with the lesson.

Sitting in his desk, Drew quietly thought to himself. So, months could be names too? He wondered how it would have sounded if May's name was a different month. In the end, 'May' sounded the best, but 'April' and 'June' weren't so bad either. Interesting.

* * *

Later, Drew met with his friends May, Gary, Paul, and Ash outside. He decided to try an experiment using the new knowledge he had gained. He went up to May.

"Hello, July." he greeted.

"Why are you calling me July?" May was confused.

"Your name is a month, so can I call you other months, too?" Drew asked.

She had her answer. "No, my name is May."

"Okay." But he wondered how she would react if he called he a different month again. He smirked a bit and flipped his hair. "Okay, December."

"My name is May!" she repeated a bit louder than before.

"August!" Gary chimed in mischievously.

"No, my name is _May_!" Gary and Drew were both delighted with the results.

"March, April!" Drew tried two months next.

"No! No!" May was shouting now.

"January! February!" Gary followed Drew's example.

Stop it! My name is MAY!" the girl screamed.

"Your name is September! October! November!" Drew sang.

"No! NO!" May shrieked, stamping her foot. "Stop it! STOP IT!"

"I don't like 'November'." Paul said suddenly. He and Ash had just been silently observing the scene up until then (Ash, a little worriedly). "It doesn't sound like a name."

May relaxed. Of course Paul would stand up for her, being the no-nonsense type of guy he was...

"I think 'June' sounds better." May's mouth dropped open. Even Paul was teasing her!

"Yeah, June!" Drew agreed enthusiastically. "March and April and June!"

"No, stop it! I'm gonna get you!" May threatened. This only caused Drew to start running.

"Run, Gary! She's gonna get us!" Both boys began laughing and running as the furious girl chased after them.

"January, February, March, April!" They chanted the names of the months while doing their best to avoid getting caught.

Ash and Paul watched their friends from where they were standing.

"I thought her name was May..." Ash mused quietly.

* * *

The next week, Drew wrote his months quiz confidently. He was very pleased when he received his paper back with a perfect score and a big sticker at the top. He didn't need to worry about forgetting the names of the months anymore, especially since the presence of a certain bandana-wearing friend always reminded him.

* * *

**And there you have it! Hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you thought in your reviews.**

**Thanks for reading! See you on Monday!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	7. Noodling Around

**Hello everyone, and here is the next chapter as promised! Thanks for being so patient, and also thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Noodling Around**

**(Just finished) Grade Four  
**

**May (10), Paul (10), Drew (10), Gary (10), Leaf (10), Ash (10), Misty (10), Dawn (9)**

Grade four had finally ended, and summer vacation had started. May thought it would only be fitting for her and her friends to celebrate the finish of their toughest year yet. So, in mid-June, she arranged a small get-together at her house. Naturally, she invited her seven best friends: Ash, Dawn, Drew, Gary, Leaf, Misty, and Paul.

They spent the day hanging out, relaxing, recalling the highlights of the year, and playing some games. Eventually, it was time to eat.

"We ordered something _really_ special for lunch." May promised. "And lots of it. I know everyone's gonna love it!"

"Cake?" Ash guessed hopefully.

"No, Paul doesn't like cake." Gary pointed out.

"It's not cake, but it's just as good!" May led them to the dining room where her mother was setting down the last plate. There were eight seats, four on each side of the table. In the middle of the table, there was a large bowl of...

"NOODLES!" May revealed excitedly. "Isn't that the best, or what!"

The others didn't react the same way she did. They knew noodles were May's favourite food, so it was no surprise.

"If you say so." Misty mumbled.

"Come on, everybody! Let's eat some noodles!" May quickly took her seat. The others followed her example, with the boys sitting on one side of the table and the girls on the other. May's mother filled everyone's bowl.

"You can have as much as you like." she told them. "I'll be in my room if you need me!" She left the eight kids by themselves as they began eating their meal with their chopsticks.

"What are you guys doing?!" May yelled out all of a sudden. Everyone looked at her confusedly.

"Umm, eating noodles?" Ash answered, sounding unsure of how he was expected to respond.

"That's not how you eat noodles!" May sounded irritated. "We aren't at some fancy restaurant eating a fancy meal with rich, fancy people judging our manners. We are at _my_ house, celebrating the start of summer by eating noodles! You have to _enjoy_ the noodles! You have to _unwind_ like the noodles! You have to _be_ the noodles!" She concluded her speech by stuffing her mouth with a large amount of her lunch.

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but my mom told me to eat politely, so..."

"Well, by not enjoying yourself, you, mister, are not being very polite!" May managed to say through her half-full mouth. "I feel very offended! At this party, we were supposed to have fun, not practise manners!"

"If you say so!" Ash didn't give a second thought as he began eating in the same way as May.

"Come on, you guys!" May tried to encourage the rest of her friends. "It tastes better when you stuff your mouth completely!"

"Wouldn't your risk of choking increase?" Drew reasoned with a raised eyebrow.

"Choke? On noodles? Never!" May declared, just as Ash began coughing.

"Yeah, right..." Drew and the others were unconvinced.

After another moment of observing the two, Leaf shrugged. "Oh, whatever!" She began shoveling heaps into her mouth. "Yeah, you're right! It does taste better like this!" She was really enjoying herself now.

Gary grinned. "I'll take your word for it." He didn't hesitate after that.

"Come on Misty!" Ash's muffled voice said. "Eating noodles never hurt anyone!"

"It might, if you don't swallow before speaking." Misty retorted as she eyed her bowl. She was very strict on her eating habits, as she liked staying fit and healthy so she could do all her favourite sports (especially swimming) with ease. But it wouldn't hurt to let loose once in a while, right? Especially when it looked so tempting... Before she knew it, she was slurping noodles in amounts she had never slurped before.

Drew raised his eyebrow at his friends' behaviour. At his mansion, he always had to do everything with the best of manners. He felt no urge to copy the others around him.

Dawn wrinkled her nose. Everyone was eating in such a sloppy fashion. She could not see how it was enjoyable in any way.

Paul just looked bored as he continued his meal in the way he always did. He felt everyone around him was just being immature. Just then, a noodle came flying and landed on his face. He looked to his left to see noodles flying out of Ash's bowl as he ate.

"Sorry Paul!" Ash apologized with a full mouth.

"Ewww! Gross!" Dawn squealed, making a face.

"Ash, you're disgusting." Paul stated monotonously as he wiped off the noodle with a napkin.

"Gary, catch!" Leaf had found the flying noodle funny and had now flicked two towards her friend. He didn't react fast enough and ended up getting hit on the face.

"Oh, it is _on!_" Gary tossed a few noodles at her. He missed, and hit Misty instead.

"Why you...!" Misty grabbed a handful from her bowl.

A minute later, May, Ash, Leaf, Gary, and Misty were standing up, and there were noodles being thrown everywhere.

Dawn was ducking, trying to avoid getting her hair messed up, Drew was watching the scene with a mixture of disgust and amusement, and Paul was sitting as still as a statue with his hands folded across his chest and stray noodles dangling from his hair and clothes. He had lost his appetite after some thrown noodles had landed in his bowl.

Ash threw a handful of his lunch at Misty, but missed and ended up hitting Dawn's hair.

"My hair!" she shrieked.

"Sorry, Dawn!" Ash apologized, trying to hold back his laughter.

Dawn stood up, her horrified expression replaced with an evil grin. "No need to worry, Ash." she assured him in a sweet voice. "Because I'm gonna get my revenge!" Ash discovered Dawn could aim really well.

Drew observed everyone around him. May cheered victoriously as she got Gary in the face.

"Gee, December. You're so _childish_!" he commented, smirking.

This resulted in Drew getting a couple of strands of noodles thrown at his hair. He looked at May, who was responsible, and saw her grinning at him.

"Wow, Drew! Now your head looks like pasta salad!" she laughed.

After a few seconds of surprise, he grinned too, and stood up, flipping his hair (and a noodle in the process).

"Is that the best you got, _April_?" he taunted, his manners forgotten, as he used his chopsticks to fling noodles at the bandana-wearer.

"I'm surrounded by crazy people." Paul muttered. "Am I the only sane one here?"

SPLAT! A clump of noodles came flying out of nowhere and hit the right side of his face. Gary, who was sitting at his right, howled in laughter.

"That's a really good look for you, Paul! You look ridiculous! It's like you have half a beard!"

Paul slowly turned to face him. "Oh, you're asking for it now!" He stood up, grabbing a fistful from his bowl, and slammed it down hard on Gary's head, the noodles squishing into his hair.

"Aww man, Paul!" Gary whined. "How am I gonna clean this up!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you laughed at me." Paul replied calmly as he wiped his hands on a napkin in a professional way.

"MAY!" Everyone froze and turned to the left. May's little brother, Max, was standing there, staring at the chaos with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. It was then that they realized what they had done.

"I'm gonna tell Mom!" Max quickly scurried away to fulfill his role as a tattletale.

The eight friends looked at one another. They were definitely going to get in trouble now. Oh well. At least it had been fun while it lasted...

* * *

**This one was dedicated to May's love for noodles. Anyone feeling hungry?**

**Please review, and thanks for reading! See you Thursday!  
**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	8. Lucky Pencil

**Hello everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews!  
**

**I have an extended author's note at the end, so be sure to check that out as well. I'm not putting it here, at the beginning, because you guys probably want to go right ahead to the story.  
**

**Happy reading!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Lucky Pencil  
**

**Grade Four  
**

**May (9), Drew (9), Paul (9), Dawn (9), Ash (9), Misty (9), Leaf (9), Gary (9)**

May looked especially happy when she walked into her grade four classroom one morning.

"Why are you so happy today?" her friend, Dawn, asked curiously.

"Look at what my dad gave me!" May pulled out a red pencil with a Beautifly eraser on it.

"Wow, it's so cute!" Dawn gushed.

"I know! It's my lucky pencil!" May informed her proudly.

"Lucky pencil? I don't believe in luck." Misty, another friend, joined in. "It's just a pencil."

"It's not 'just a pencil'! My dad gave it to me, and it_ is_ lucky!" May insisted. "My family and I were playing a game. I had this pencil with me, and I kept winning!"

"Winning a game doesn't come from luck." Leaf, another friend who had decided to enroll in May's school that year, reasoned. "It comes from skill."

"Not if all you have to do for the game is roll a dice. Whenever I rolled the dice, I got a good number. I won three times in a row!"

Leaf shrugged. "Could happen to anyone."

"It doesn't matter what you guys think. I think this pencil is special, and that's that! And I'll show you how lucky this pencil is. I'm gonna use it for the test we have before lunch time."

"What's this I hear?" May's green-haired friend Drew, along with Gary, Ash and Paul, walked up to them. "You're going to depend on a _pencil_ to get a good grade?"

"Well, I did study hard." May admitted. "But this pencil is gonna make _sure_ I pass!"

"Don't depend too much on it." Drew warned, and then felt obliged to add, "_September_."

"My name is MAY!"

* * *

Everyone was getting ready for the test. The others around May were taking out pencils, erasers, and sharpeners. May had already taken out her eraser and sharpener beforehand, but had left her lucky pencil in her pencil case. She didn't want it to end up rolling off her desk and getting lost. One minute before the test started, May opened her pencil case to take it out. But it wasn't there.

"Huh?" May searched through her case thoroughly, but it didn't show up. Maybe it fell? She looked under her desk, but all she found was the Beautifly eraser. But where was the pencil?

"Okay, class, I'm going to start handing out the test. Please put away anything you don't need." the teacher announced.

May began to panic. Where was her lucky pencil? She needed it! There was no time to search for it anymore. She had to use a plain-old everyday pencil to write the test.

* * *

"So, how was it?" Dawn asked her when lunch break started. "Did your lucky pencil help?"

"It's gone!" May moaned. "I can't find it!"

Dawn looked shocked. "But... where could it have gone? You were taking really good care of it! Where did you put it last?"

"In my pencil case, but it's not there anymore! I did find the Beautifly eraser under my chair, though." May pulled out the eraser from her pocket.

"Maybe it fell and rolled away." Dawn said.

"But I didn't even take it out of my case! How could have fallen if it was in a box?"

"I don't know..."

"Wait!" A sudden thought occurred to May. "What if... someone took it!"

"Who would take it, though?" Dawn wondered. "And why would they leave the Beautifly eraser behind?"

"They left it behind, because if they are seen with it, it would be obvious they took it! And the only ones here who I showed my pencil to were you, Misty, Leaf, Drew, Gary, Ash, and Paul."

"Do you really think your friends would take it?" Dawn questioned doubtfully.

"Who knows? I know Ash would never do such a thing, and Paul may be mean sometimes, but he wouldn't take someone's things without asking. Wouldn't want to anyways. But Leaf and Misty might have wanted to show me that luck doesn't exist, and you can only do things through hard work. Gary might have done it as a joke, or Drew could have done it to annoy me!" May theorized.

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked uncertainly. "You could have just accidentally dropped it without knowing."

"Like I said before, Dawn, I couldn't have. Oh, I'm gonna go find everyone and get my pencil back!"

"No need to worry, May, I'm sure you'll find it! I'll check around the classroom just in case it's somewhere on the floor." Dawn offered.

"Thanks, Dawn." May appreciated her friend's help. And off she went to search for the others herself.

She found Leaf and Misty first. They were outside, trying to see who could skip rope for the longest. The two got along pretty well, since they lived in the same neighbourhood and hung out often. Leaf also loved to compete, which suited sporty Misty just fine.

"Misty! Leaf!" May stomped up to them. The distraction caused Leaf, who was skipping at the time, to stumble and fall.

"Ooof! May you made me mess up!" Leaf complained. May didn't care.

"Leaf, Misty, I want my pencil back!" May demanded.

"What makes you think _we_ have your pencil?" Misty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You guys probably took it so I would have to write the test without it. That way, you two can show me that you don't need luck to do something well."

"Look, May." Leaf said, frowning, as she didn't seem too happy about the accusation. "I know we both don't believe that pencil was lucky, but it was still yours. We would never take anything that doesn't belong to us without asking."

"So... you guys don't have it?" May asked hesitantly. When her friends shook their heads, she hung hers, feeling ashamed. "Sorry..."

Her friends looked at her sympathetically.

"Don't worry, May, I'm sure you'll find it." Misty assured her.

"We can help you look if you want." Leaf offered.

"No thanks, I think I might be able to myself." May left them to their skipping.

* * *

She tracked down Paul and Gary next. They were focused on a game of chess in a classroom where students usually played boardgames during lunch break.

Gary and Paul used to always play checkers when they were younger, but after they had mastered it, their games always ended in draws. So, they had moved up to chess. They weren't experts on it yet, but they were improving.

May made her way through the crowd that was watching their game. It was made up mostly of older kids, so it wasn't an easy task.

"I swear, they keep getting better every time I watch." May heard someone whisper to his friend as they watched the match. Finally, May had managed to push her way to stand beside the table the two boys were sitting at.

"Gary, where is my pencil?" she demanded. But Gary didn't even look up. He was too busy muttering to himself, thinking of all the possible moves he could make.

"Gary...!"

"In a minute..." he mumbled. He smirked slightly as he made his move. "Check." A crease appeared on Paul's eyebrow as he concentrated, trying to decide what was the best move for him to make that would protect his king.

"Gary, I want my pencil!" The boys paid no attention as Paul made his move, one that both protected his king and killed off a pawn.

"Thought you'd do that." Gary said as he took out Paul's bishop. "Check."

"Guys, are you even listening to me?!"

"Later, May, we're kinda busy." Gary said dismissively. He took another turn after Paul took his.

"I'm not leaving till I get my pencil!"

Gary finally looked up. "What pencil?" he asked blankly.

"My red pencil!" May specified. However, when she saw Gary's confused face, she knew she had been mistaken. "You... didn't take it, did you?"

"Check." Paul's voice got Gary's attention.

"Aww man! May was distracting me!"

"Make all the excuses you like. It's still check."

Gary's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think out a new strategy.

"Paul, you don't have it either?" May asked quietly.

"Bother me later..." Paul responded a bit absentmindedly, as he was too absorbed in the game.

May sighed as she began her journey back through the crowd.

* * *

After a while of searching, May spotted the one she was looking for walking down the hall. A girl from their class, Brianna, was walking with him, showering him with her admiration.

"Your hair looks extra-nice today!" Brianna complimented.

"Why, thank you." Drew smiled as he flipped the green fringe of his hair.

"DREW!" May's voice roared as she stomped her way to him. He turned around to face her.

"Hello, June." he greeted, but he became a bit confused when he saw the furious look on her face. Brianna looked a bit nervously at her as well.

"Maybe I should go now. Bye Mister Drew!" She hastily scurried away, not wanted to get caught in what could be a big argument between the two.

"It's not funny!" May was now standing right in front of her friend.

"What's the matter, March? Did you hear a joke that didn't make you laugh?" Even though he had no idea why she was mad at him right now, he felt the need to tease her.

"I want it back!"

"Want what back?" he asked calmly.

"You know what!"

"Why would I even have anything that belongs to you in the first place?"

"I don't know! Why do you flip your hair and call me different months all the time?!"

"Well, it's kinda funny..."

"Exactly! So give me back my pencil!"

Drew raised his eyebrow. "Your _red_ pencil? I don't have your pencil. Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me, I just know! I mean, who else could it be?"

"Listen, May, I don't have your pencil. I don't know who took it, but it was definitely not me." The seriousness in his voice calmed May down a little. But it also upset her. If not even Drew had it, then who did?

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Drew nodded. "Completely."

"But then who?" May wanted to know. "The only ones who knew about it were me, you, Dawn, Misty, Leaf, Gary, Ash, and Paul. I already asked Misty, Leaf, Gary, Paul, and you."

"May, do you really think one of your friends took it? There were lots of other people around. Someone might have overheard." Drew pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." May sounded discouraged as she began heading back to class.

Who could have been the culprit? Who could have stolen her special, lucky pencil? A sudden thought hit her. Could it have been... Dawn? Dawn really liked the pencil after all. Did she like it enough to take it? Or did she just want to use the lucky pencil for her test?

May shook her head. _No, she wouldn't have! She's helping me find it, which she wouldn't be doing if she had it._

"May! MAY!" May snapped out of her thoughts as someone called her. The blue-haired friend she had just been thinking about came running up to her.

"May!" she huffed when she arrived in front of her. "I think I found your pencil!"

"Really? Where?" May asked quickly.

"I think... you should come see for yourself." For some reason, Dawn sounded a bit nervous.

The two friends headed back to their classroom, which was mostly empty, except for Ash, who was leaning against his desk.

"Hey, May." He straightened up when he saw them coming. "So... you lost your red pencil?"

"Yes. Wait, are you saying _you_ have it?!" May was surprised. Ash, of all people, had stolen her pencil?

"Wait, let me explain! I didn't know it was yours. I needed a pencil for the test, and found it on the floor. It didn't have the Beautifly eraser on it, so it just looked like a normal red pencil. I didn't see anyone looking for it either, so I thought it wouldn't hurt if I used it for a while." Ash explained.

"But how did it get out of my pencil case?" May wondered.

"I don't know for sure," Dawn said, "but maybe when you were taking out something else, the pencil fell out too. Then the eraser got off, and it rolled away and ended up with Ash."

May thought about it. It made sense, so there was no point in being angry at her friend. He just hadn't known. She sighed.

"It's okay, Ash. Can I have my pencil back now?" Ash and Dawn exchanged a nervous glance.

"Well, the thing is..." Dawn started.

"Here." Ash held out the pencil. May's mouth dropped open.

It had shrunk! And not just a little, either; it was now one fifth its original size.

"Err, sorry about that." Ash apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I think I sharpened it a bit too much." May continued staring.

"Hey, no need to worry!" Dawn tried to stay positive. "You still have the eraser. You can just put it on another pencil, right?

May finally managed to say something. "My... pencil..."

"I'm very sorry, May." Ash said with a sigh. "I can get you a new one if you want."

May smiled at his sincerity. "It's okay, Ash. Besides, it was just a pencil. It would have ended up like that anyways, since I would have needed to sharpen it too. And like Dawn said, I still have the Beautifly eraser." She took it out of her pocket. "I'll just put it on another pencil." She went to her desk to get one.

"You know," Ash said to Dawn, "I actually do think that pencil was lucky. I really did need something to write with for that test. I wouldn't have been able to write it at all if that pencil hadn't suddenly rolled to me."

* * *

**And that was the story of May's lucky pencil. Hope you guys enjoyed it!**

******I have been asked if I would be adding in any other characters, like from Unova and Kalos, in these one-shots. I was originally planning to have different characters from regions up to Sinnoh make appearances as minor characters from time to time, but I can totally bring in some from Unova and Kalos as well. I just want to keep the 'main eight' as the focus of the fanfic.  
**

******However, there was one thing I realized. If I am going to bring in characters from Unova and Kalos, then Iris, Trip, Serena, and Clemont would eventually make appearances. These four are all about the same ages as Ash and the others, meaning they would be in the same grade. But the thing is that they are also major characters in the anime (Ash's traveling partners/rival (in Trip's case)). It would make sense to make them a part of the main eight group.**

******So here is where I need your guys' opinions. Do you want me to bring these four in as minor characters, or do you want them to become part of the usual group? My original plan was to only make one-shots of up to grade four (because the main point is to keep them as little kids), but I can add in grades five and six (I am not going higher than that) and make it so that these new four join them as best friends then. Whatever I do, I can definitely weave them into the story.**

******So what do you guys want? I might bring those four into one-shots sometimes, but I won't consider adding them into the main group until I get your opinions.  
**

******Anyways thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think about the whole character thing! See you Monday!  
**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	9. Painting

**Hello, readers! Today's Monday, meaning today's update day as well! **

**Thanks for all the reviews for last time! Oh, and meet me at the end for an extended author's note thingy. **

**Anyways, happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Painting**

**Kindergarten**

**May (5), Drew (5), Gary (5), Paul (5)**

May walked into her kindergarten classroom, and immediately noticed the changes. All the round tables were covered in white, plastic sheets, and in the centre of each table, there were some jars of paints, one jar of water, and paintbrushes.

Ms. Kelly, her teacher, smiled at her. "Hello, May. I'm glad to see you didn't forget to bring an extra shirt for painting today." A few days ago, Ms. Kelly had sent home a note saying that they would be painting today. She had asked that everyone bring a big, baggy, old shirt to wear over their clothes, so their clothes don't get paint on them.

After she said good bye to her mother, May hurried over to where her friends were sitting. May was wearing one of her Daddy's old shirts. Gary was wearing a baggy shirt as well, and Paul was wearing one of his brother's old shirts. Drew, however, was wearing a white, long coat that went up to his knees with many buttons.

"Drew," May reminded him, "Ms. Kelly said we had to wear an old shirt so our nice clothes don't get dirty." She didn't want Drew to accidentally get his clean, white coat covered in paint.

"Nanny said it's okay if I get paint on it." Drew assured her. "She said I look just like an_ artist_." May was about to ask who 'Nanny' was, but Gary spoke first.

"It looks like the coat my grandpa wears sometimes." he noted. "I think he said it's a lab coat." Drew looked proud of his 'lab coat'.

"You can paint anything you want." Ms. Kelly instructed as she handed out blank sheets of paper. "Don't forget to clean your paintbrush in the jar of water before using a new colour of paint. If you don't, the colours can get mixed up."

Soon everyone had a piece of paper in front on them and a paintbrush in their hands. When Drew saw all the different colours, he immediately remembered the many different-coloured leaves on the trees. Since the season was autumn, the leaves on the trees that stood around his mansion's yard were now a mix of green, red, yellow, and orange. Drew made up his mind that he was going to paint those trees.

The day before, Gary had been looking through a big book on Pokemon with his grandpa. He really liked a Pokemon called Blastoise, and decided that that was what his picture was going to be.

The jar of bright, red paint caught May's eye. It was her favourite colour, and although she wasn't sure what she was painting, she wanted to use red paint.

Paul wasn't sure of what to make at all. He liked a few different colours, though, and decided to use them.

The class was bustling with activity as everyone painted, with some kids accidentally spilling their jars of paint or water, some getting paint all over their hands and face, and some asking for new paper.

May hummed as her brush moved back and forth as she applied more and more red paint to her sheet. Drew added some more colours, like blue and pink, to his trees, because he thought it looked nice. Gary was proud of his picture of a Blastoise. He thought it looked almost as good as the picture in his grandpa's book. Paul's paper consisted of random strokes of some colours he had picked out, such as blue, purple, grey, and black.

Finally, when everyone was done, Ms. Kelly walked around the classroom, looking at what her students had created. She arrived at May's table.

"Lovely paintings, everyone! May, that's a very nice red picture of a... of a..."

"Red!" May finished her teacher's sentence proudly. "I made red!"

"Yes, I can see that. Very nice. And Drew, those are some very colourful... trees?"

"Yes." Drew was happy his teacher liked them.

"Gary, that is a wonderful picture of a Pokemon."

"It's a Blas-toy." Gary informed her knowledgeably.

"Of course, it looks just like it! And what have you got there, Paul? It has many different colours."

Paul looked at his work thoughtfully for a while before answering. "I don't know."

"Is it an _abstract_ painting?" Ms. Kelly guessed. Paul looked at her blankly, as he was absolutely clueless to what 'abstract' meant.

"An 'abstract painting' is a painting that isn't a picture of a thing." Ms. Kelly explained. "It can just be many different colours, or a design."

"Yes, it's ab-strat." Paul said. He was more interested about learning a new word than getting praise from his teacher.

"Okay then!" Ms. Kelly clapped her hands. "I'm going to take everyone's paintings and put them over there to dry." She pointed to a counter that was covered in a white sheet, and was along the window. "No one is allowed to touch them until they are dry. Then, I am going to call everyone up table by table to go to the washroom to clean up."

Ms. Kelly walked around, transferring the paintings to their new spot after writing the artists' names on them using a black marker. She had to be extra careful not to rip May's paper, because it was completely soaked in red paint.

After she was done that, she began calling her students table by table to go to the washroom with her to wash up. May's table would be the last to go, so the four friends waited patiently.

"What are you doing?" Gary had noticed what May was up to. She was using her paintbrush to cover her hand in red paint.

"I'm making it pretty!" May showed him her work. "Look, now I even have nail polish like Mommy!" She looked up at her friends, seeing their expressions at her beautiful hand-painting. She then noticed Drew's coat.

"Drew, look at your lab coat! It's so pretty!" Drew looked down at his coat. It was now covered in small splashes of different-coloured paint. May looked at it thoughtfully.

"Can I make something on it?" she asked. Drew's nanny had said it was okay if Drew got paint on it, so he said yes.

May used her paintbrush to make a small happy face on his shoulder. She place her other hand, the one covered in paint, on Drew's coat to steady herself as she made it.

"There!" She moved back to observe the happy face she had made. She giggled when she saw something else. "Drew, my hand is on your lab coat!" And sure enough, there was a red hand print that was added to his coat's design. Gary eyed it admiringly.

"I wanna make one too!" He dipped his hand in blue paint and pressed it onto Drew's coat as well.

"I'm gonna do a green one." Drew stated as he added on a green hand print. Normally, he'd be against getting himself dirty or messy, but this looked like fun!

"You do one too, Paul!" May chirped. He didn't really want to cover his hand in paint, but he decided to anyway, and soon a purple hand print was also visible.

"Okay, May, Drew, Gary, and Paul, it is your turn now." Ms. Kelly called them. The four children obeyed as they walked up to their teacher.

"Look!" May pointed at Drew's coat, giggling. "We put our hand-prints on him!"

"Wow, that's a very creative idea!" Ms. Kelly was impressed. "All four of you put your hand prints on there?"

"Yes!" Gary confirmed. "Mine is the blue one, May's is the red one, Drew's is the green one, and Paul's in the purple one."

Ms. Kelly then addressed Drew. "Drew, is it okay if I write on it?"

Drew thought for a second. "Okay." he answered.

Later, when the students had all washed their hands and were no longer wearing their painting-shirts over their clothes, Ms. Kelly took Drew's coat.

"Can I give it back to you tomorrow?" she asked. "I want to keep it here with all the other paintings until it dries." Drew agreed.

* * *

The next day, after class was over, and everyone's parents came to pick up their children, Ms. Kelly told everyone that they were allowed to take their paintings home now.

May excitedly showed hers to her mother. "It's for you!" She handed it to her.

"Oh, darling, it's lovely!" Caroline complimented.

"Look, Grandpa!" Gary showed his to his grandpa. "I made Blas-toy!"

"And excellently, too!" his grandpa marveled, winking at his grandson. "Maybe I should just have _you_ make my Pokemon books!" Gary thought so too.

"Wow, this is great, Paul!" Reggie, who had come to pick up his brother, admired the paper Paul had handed to him. "Err, what is it?"

"It's ab-strat." Paul informed him with a serious look on his face.

Drew's butler had come to pick him up. Drew showed him what he had painted.

"Very nice, Young Master Andrew." the butler said, trying to show more expression on his face than usual.

"Oh, and Drew?" Ms. Kelly walked up to him. "Here is your coat."

Drew held the coat up so he could see everything that was on it. May, Gary, and Paul came to admire it too.

The originally white coat had colourful splatters of paint all over the front. Amongst the splatters were four hand prints, and each had the name of the owner below it in black marker, written by Ms. Kelly. On the back of the coat, the words 'Kindergarten Friends' were written, also in black marker.

The four friends observed the masterpiece for a moment. It was something, Drew decided, that he would keep forever.

* * *

**Another day at kindergarten. Anyone else miss those good old days?**

**Last chapter, I asked if I should add Iris, Trip, Clemont and Serena into the main eight group. I've made my decision.  
First, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions (actually, I want to thank you even if you didn't review or give suggestions. Just the fact that people read this makes me happy! :3).  
So, my decision? Don't add them into the main eight group. To be honest, I was kind of against it myself, but I wanted to know what you guys thought before I gave my opinion. I like the eight-group just the way it is, and personally, when there are too many main characters in a story, I find it hard to keep track of them.  
However, I still think they deserve a bigger role than minor characters. So I'm going to take your guys' advice and make them recurring/ side characters. So they might appear in some chapters once in a while (maybe not very often, though) and, in those chapters, they're going to have a bigger role than just a line or an appearance. So, how does that sound?**

**Oh, and I might (not sure) add in grade five. The only reason I'm mentioning this is because before, I said my plan was to only make up to grade four. But I think grade five wouldn't be too bad. Not that important, though. Moving on...**

**A guest reviewer asked me a question that I was expecting to be asked for a while now:  
Will there be any ships?  
Okay, well, here is the thing: I'm actually not really into romance. I know there is a lot of shipping with the characters I'm using, but the reason I'm using them is not only because they seem to be the most popular anime characters for fanfiction, but also because I find them the most interesting to work with. In this fanfic, I wanted to make the main focus their bond and friendship. I guess you, as the reader, can take their interactions any way you like, but I don't have any plans to make very obvious shipping. Although, I do like to reflect off the anime (I showed Brianna's admiration for Drew last chapter, not really as a shipping thing, but more as a reference to the anime).  
Sorry if I disappointed anyone.  
**

**Wow, that was a pretty long author's note. Whew!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! See you next time!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	10. Beware the Cooties!

**Hello everyone! Today's Thursday, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the read!  
**

**Today's topic was actually a suggestion I received in a review. So, this one's for you, _Ready to fly_! ;)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Beware the Cooties!**

**(Summer before) Grade One  
**

**May (6), Gary (6), Paul (6), Drew (6), Ash (6), Leaf (6)**

It was a perfect summer day, and also the day Gary had invited his friends over to play with him. So he, along with his friends from kindergarten, May, Drew, and Paul, his best friend and next-door neighbour, Leaf, and Ash, whom his grandpa had insisted on inviting along, was on his way to the park near his house, with his responsible grandpa, Professor Oak, watching over them.

Once they reached their destination, Professor Oak went to sit on a bench. He had brought along something to do, since sitting around, watching the kids play for an hour, was bound to get boring. He pulled out a pencil, opened a book that had blank, lined paper, and began to write.

Gary and his friends headed for the playground.

"What should we play?" May wondered.

"I know!" Gary exclaimed. "Let's play King! I'm the king and you are my servants, so you have to do what I say!"

His friends looked at one another. They didn't like this game.

"Can we play something else?" Ash asked. But Gary had already made his way to the top of the highest slide.

"Get me ten cookies!" he ordered. The others looked up at their bossy friend for a moment, before Leaf yelled out.

"We don't want to play this game! Come on, everyone, let's go play something else!" To Gary's dismay, they began to go to a different part of the park.

"No, wait!" he called out, not wanting to be ignored. But they paid no attention, and left, with Leaf in the lead.

While Paul was following Leaf, something more interesting caught his eye. Professor Oak was still working on something, and Paul wondered what it was that the old man was so absorbed in. He made his way over to him and peeked at his book.

"What are you writing?" he asked curiously.

The fact that someone, even though it was only a six-year-old boy, was interested in what he was doing lighted a childish excitement in Professor Oak.

"Well, young man, I am writing Pokemon poetry. Usually I write small ones, like haikus, but today, I'm attempting to make a sonnet. Do you know what a sonnet is?" Paul shook his head, as he obviously did not.

"Why don't you sit beside me, and I'll tell you?" When the purple-haired boy hopped onto the bench next to him, Professor Oak began his explanation. "Well, you see, a sonnet..."

Meanwhile, Gary had discovered that it was boring playing all by himself. He went down the slide, and headed in the direction Leaf had taken his friends. He found them, all standing around the emerald-eyed girl, as she told them something that had them all captivated. Gary tried to listen in, but since he had come part-way through the story, it wasn't making any sense to him.

"Wanna play something?" he asked, before quickly adding, "Together?" He decided it was more fun to play with everyone rather than alone.

"Sh, Gary!" May said, not even turning towards him. "Leaf is telling us a story!"

Gary made a few more attempts to get everyone's attention, but they were all too focused on what Leaf was saying. This frustrated the spiky-haired boy, as he didn't like being left out or ignored. But he couldn't do anything to get their attention away from his best friend. Thoroughly irritated, he racked his brain for something, _anything_, that would help him take the spotlight away from her. And then he found it. He took a deep breath.

"Everybody, get away from Leafy!" he hollered. "She has _cooties_!"

This had the reaction he was expecting. Frightened, Drew, May and Ash jumped back from the girl, and ran to a safe distance.

"What are cooties?" Drew asked Gary in a worried voice.

"Leafy has them!" Gary answered, not having a very good explanation himself. "And if she touches you, you'll get them too!" Drew, along with May and Ash, who were also listening, looked horrified at the news. Leaf, however, had not yet budged from her place, as she was still a bit shocked. But once she regained herself, her expression turned to one of anger.

"I don't have cooties!" she insisted, folding her arms. When the others continued keeping their distance and watching her warily, she became angrier and stamped her foot."I do NOT have cooties!" she repeated. "Tell them, Gary!"

"She has cooties! Run, everyone, before she gets you!" Gary yelled out, causing the others to start running away frantically.

"GARY OAK!" Leaf screamed, and began chasing after him, causing more panic amongst the others. "I do not have cooties! Tell them the truth!"

May let out a loud shriek as the furious girl closely passed her on her way to the one who had started all this. "I don't want cooties!" the bandana-wearing girl sobbed, as she began heading in a different direction.

"But I _don't_ have cooties!" Leaf insisted, and she tried to reach May to show her that she didn't. This only caused May to scream louder and speed up.

"Don't worry, I'll save you!" Drew heroically began making his way to the two to save his friend from 'a terrible fate'.

"Leaf, leave May alone!" Ash yelled, trying to get her attention away from May.

"But I'm NOT doing anything!" Leaf cried out furiously. "And I DON'T have cooties!"

All that yelling and screaming finally caught Professor Oak's attention. He stopped the explanation he was giving Paul to look up, as he was afraid someone might have gotten hurt while he wasn't looking. He relaxed when he saw that the kids were just running around, chasing one another.

"They're probably playing tag..." he figured, before turning back to his little listener. "Now where was I? Oh, yes! So in the late 16th century, Sir Philip Sidney..."

Meanwhile, Gary, Drew, May and Ash had made their way onto the playground equipment, and were using a part, which was covered by a small roof, as their 'hideout'. There were some steps that led to their little base, and Leaf was standing at the bottom of them, glaring up at the others.

"Come down here! Gary, tell them I don't have cooties!" she ordered.

"Fire!" Gary commanded. He and Ash began tossing handfuls of sand, which they were carrying in their shoes (as they did not have a pail), at her. She let out a small scream as she jumped back.

"Now I have sand in my hair!" she whined before going back to glaring. "Let me come up!"

"But you have-" May started nervously.

"I _don't_ have cooties!" Leaf shrieked.

"How do you know?" Drew demanded.

"How do you know I have them?" she shot back. Drew, May and Ash turned to Gary. Gary noticed their gaze, and quickly tried to create a reason.

"Because I know so! And I'm the oldest, because my birthday is first, so I know more things than you!" His reason was good enough for his three friends, but not for Leaf.

"No! Paul's the oldest!" she argued. "And he never said I have cooties!"

"Paul isn't here now. And how do you know he doesn't think you have cooties? You never asked him!" Gary argued.

"Wait, where is Paul?" Ash wondered out loud.

Back at the bench...

"And that, my boy," Professor Oak concluded, clapping his hands together, "is the history of sonnets! Do you understand what a sonnet is now, Paul?"

Paul, who had been listening intently the whole time, nodded, feeling more knowledgeable than before, despite not remembering over half of what the old man had said.

"Oh my, look at the time! I guess time flies when you're having fun." The professor chuckled as he glanced at his watch. "Okay, everyone! It's time to go!" he announced.

The five who were in the playground had gone back to running from Leaf. They all stopped when they were called, and began hurrying to get to Gary's grandpa.

As they walked back, following behind Professor Oak, Gary, Ash, May and Drew continued keeping their distance from Leaf. The poor girl frowned, and walked up to Paul, who was currently her only friend left who was unaware of her so-called cooties.

"Do you think I have cooties?" she asked him.

"What are those?" Paul asked, nonplussed.

"Run, Paul!" Gary yelled. "She has cooties, and if she touches you, you will too!"

"But what are they? What do they do?" Paul asked the thing no one else had yet.

"Yeah, what do they do?" Ash repeated the question as he, and everyone else, turned to Gary.

"Um, they..." Gary tried to make up something, but all that pressure was preventing him from thinking.

"I don't think they exist." Paul declared.

"Yeah, maybe..." Gary admitted. But he didn't care. He had had a lot of fun with his friends today because of those cooties, whether they existed or not.

"Wait! If cooties don't exist, then... Gary lied!" Leaf realized, and turned angrily to her spiky-haired friend.

"Uh oh..." The boy began to run ahead.

"Gary Oak! Get back here!" Leaf yelled as she ran after him.

* * *

**So how was it? Tell me in your reviews!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye or now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	11. Stop Bugging Me!

**Hello, readers! Yes, I know today is Saturday and not Monday or Thursday. The reason I'm updating today is because... well, actually, I don't have a good reason. I just felt like it, I guess.  
**

**Today's topic was a suggestion from a guest reviewer, so here it is! **

**I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I am open to suggestions. If there is something in particular you want me do, then you can tell me, and I'll definitely consider it. I'd love getting ideas from others! I'll always have some of my own chapters written out, for the times I don't get suggestions, or don't manage to finish a one-shot, so I hope I can continue updating as I usually do. Bottom line: Feel free to share your ideas with me!**

**Now, on with the story! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Stop Bugging Me!**

**(Summer before) Grade Two**

**Misty (7), Ash (7), Leaf (7), Gary (7)  
**

It was a warm, summer day, and Ash, along with his new friend, Misty, was out for a small walk. Misty had just recently moved into a house that was a short distance away from Ash's, and the two had met when Ash and his mother had gone to greet Misty's family and welcome them to Pallet Street.

Now, the two were outside, enjoying the weather, as Ash gave Misty a small tour of the neighbourhood. It was a pretty safe area, and everyone knew one another, so there was no danger of getting lost.

"Hi, Ash!" Ash turned when someone called his name. A girl with brown hair and green eyes came into his line of sight. She was walking alongside a spiky-haired boy.

"Hi Leaf! Hi, Gary." Ash waved back, though he said Gary's name less enthusiastically. Misty hadn't met Leaf and Gary yet, so she just stood there.

"Who's she, Ashy-boy?" Gary asked rudely, pointing at Misty.

"I'm Misty. And it's not nice to point." the orange-haired girl snapped. Gary was taken aback at her tone.

"Hi, Misty, I'm Leaf!" Leaf introduced herself cheerfully.

"Whoah, look at that!" Ash's attention had drifted from the conversation to something in the tree. The other three looked at the place he was staring at.

"It's a Pokemon!" Leaf observed.

"A Kakuna!" Gary knew its name.

"A Ka-kakuna?!" Misty stuttered, backing off a bit.

"What's wrong, Mist?" Ash asked, noticing her nervousness. The other two turned to her as well.

"I don't like bugs." she admitted.

"But it's so far away, way up high on that branch. It can't do anything to you." Ash pointed out.

"Bugs get me all creeped out, no matter how far away they are!" Misty didn't want to be anywhere near that Kakuna. "Come on, let's go somewhere else!"

"Misty's afraid of a little bug!" Gary teased. "Just like a girl!" Leaf gave him a hard shove for that last thing he said.

"Be quiet!" Misty yelled. "I can beat you up if I want to! I just don't like bugs!"

"But, Misty, it can't hurt you." Ash reasoned. Her fear didn't make any sense to him.

"I don't care; it's still creepy!"

"Look!" Leaf pointed at something else on the tree. "A Weedle!"

"That means there are probably a lot more of them around. And maybe some cool Beedrill!" Gary figured.

"We-weedle? Beedrill? Come on, Ash, 'cause I'm leaving!" Misty grabbed Ash's arm, and began roughly dragging him away from the tree with her.

"But, Misty! I wanna see the Pokemon!" he whined.

"Misty's afraid of itty bitty bugs! Misty is a scaredy-Meowth!" Gary chanted, following them, with Leaf close behind.

Misty suddenly let go of Ash's arm and turned around to face Gary.

"Be quiet!" she yelled, obviously annoyed. This only made Gary's smirk wider.

"Misty is scared like a little girl!" he continued taunting.

Leaf frowned at him, but it was Misty who pushed him this time. He fell back onto the ground, not hurt, but stunned that he had been shoved off his feet.

"Looks like the 'little girl' pushed down Gary!" Leaf giggled mockingly. Misty folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air.

"Look, Misty! It's a Caterpie!" Misty turned at Ash's voice, only to come face-to-face with a large Caterpie, which Ash was holding close to her face.

"Eeeep!" She jumped back with a yelp. "Ash, you take that away from me right now!"

"But Misty, look at how cool it is!" Ash whined.

"Where did you find that?" Gary asked interestedly. Ash pointed to some bushes underneath a tree, so Gary went to inspect.

"Come on, Misty! A Caterpie can't hurt you!" Ash tried to convince her.

"Ugh, just get that away from me! Bugs are one of the three most disgusting things in the world!" Misty yelled.

"One of the three?" Leaf tilted her head.

"Besides bugs, what are the other disgusting things?" Ash asked curiously. Misty glared at him.

"Very funny, Ash! If you really wanna know, they're carrots and peppers!" she shouted.

"But carrots and peppers aren't bad." Ash said. "I like them. And I like bugs too."

"I don't care! Everybody has something they don't like and I don't like bugs!"

"Whoah, cool!" Gary, who had been searching through the bushes where Ash had found the Caterpie, exclaimed. "There are a whole bunch of Pokemon here!"

"Let me see!" Ash peered into the bush as well. "Yeah, you're right! There are so many Caterpie and Metapod!"

"I don't wanna be here with these creepy bugs!" Misty whined. "I'm going home!"

"But Misty, you haven't been around here for long. You don't know the way back." Ash pointed out. Misty blushed a tiny bit because she knew he was right. But she was not about to back out now.

"I'm still going." she said stubbornly, starting to go on her way.

"Umm, that's the wrong way." Misty, slightly more pink than before, turned around to go in the correct direction.

"You know, I don't want to catch bugs with you guys either." Leaf announced. "It's too boring!" Gary and Ash were too absorbed in their search to pay attention to what she was saying. She frowned and turned to Misty.

"Come on, Misty, we can go to my house. We have ice cream!" The two girls walked off together.

* * *

Later, Misty and Leaf were both at Leaf's house, sitting on the front-door steps, licking their ice cream cones.

"Look!" Leaf pointed out at something. "I think the boys are back!"

And they were. Ash and Gary both arrived, looking a bit grumpy, and covered in white, sticky web. The web was covering their shirts, dangling from their hair, and all over their faces. Leaf burst into laughter at the sight, while Misty just watched them smugly.

"What happened to you guys?" Leaf managed to say through her laughter.

"Turns out the Caterpie don't like it when we take them out of their house." Gary explained grumpily.

"And they use String Shot pretty good too." Ash added.

"See? I told you!" Misty gloated. "You shouldn't have bothered those bug Pokemon."

"No, you didn't!" Ash argued.

"Yeah, you just screamed and said you hated bugs." Gary chimed in.

"Well, at least we don't have to take an extra-long bath today!" Leaf pointed out.

"Can I have some ice cream?" Ash asked, eying their cones.

"Not until you clean up!" Leaf replied.

Grumbling, both boys walked off to their houses, leaving two snickering girls behind them.

* * *

**Looks like Ash and Gary have some cleaning up to do! I just realized: this the first chapter that doesn't include May. Oh well, she can't be around all the time.  
**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	12. Those Confusing Hallways

**Good morning, readers! I'm going to be busy today, so I'm updating now.**

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Those Confusing Hallways...**

**Grade One  
**

**May (6), Drew (6), Paul (6), Gary (6), Ash (6)**

When Drew came to class one morning, it was May who noticed something was missing.

"Drew, where is your lunchbox?" she asked worriedly. Had he lost it?

Drew looked around and realized May was right; his lunchbox was nowhere to be found.

"Did someone take it?" May asked. Immediately she turned to Gary. "Did you take it?"

"No!" Gary protested. "I was here the whole time, and Drew just came. I didn't take it!" How unjust of her to accuse him like that! Just because he did stuff like that sometimes didn't mean he _always_ did!

"Maybe I dropped it when I was coming here." Drew theorized. It could have slipped out of his grasp and he didn't notice.

"How are you going to eat?" Ash said, panicking. "What if you don't have anything to eat for the whole day?"

Drew stiffened. "It's okay. I won't complain." If, at his mansion, he had to do something he didn't want to, he wasn't allowed to complain.

May hesitated. "You can share some of my lunch." she offered. Drew smiled. She was such a nice friend.

Mrs. Thomas came in, and class started, so they all had to go to their desks.

* * *

When lunch time was about to start, Mrs. Thomas addressed Drew.

"Drew, I got a call from your house. You forgot your lunch box at home, so they sent it to the office so you could pick it up from there." she informed him. "I am a bit busy right now, so I wouldn't be able to take you there myself. But I can tell you where to go."

She gave the green-haired boy directions to the office, which he understood very well. After all, he had to follow many directions and rules at his mansion.

"Maybe someone should go with you." May suggested.

"No, I can do it myself." Drew was very confident. And he was right; he reached the office without any problems.

Problems started, however, after he had received his lunch box and exited the office. Mrs. Thomas had given him directions on how to get to the office, but not how to get back. He couldn't remember which hallway he came through, and which direction he needed to go. The area was unfamiliar, because this was where the higher grades were located. It didn't help that the halls were completely crowded with tall students who didn't even notice his short self.

Now, Drew had plenty of experience conversing with grown-ups. He had a lot of practice from the parties his parents had or went to sometimes. He knew how to speak politely, and answer and ask questions without being intimidated by their towering heights.

He did not, however, have experience in communicating with teenagers. Teenagers who were loud, rough, always moving, more interested in where they were going or talking to their friends, and failing to notice his presence.

Drew attempted to catch someone's attention, but with no success. They couldn't hear his tiny voice in the bustling hallways, and simply passed him without even a glance. The little boy decided to try to find his way without help, but this only caused him to end up in another unfamiliar place, where the students seemed to be even taller. He was now in the junior high and high school area.

He knew he needed help, but he continued to fail catching anyone's attention. He couldn't even find a reliable teacher; the students were so tall, it was hard to figure out the difference between a teacher and a student. He thought he saw Paul's older brother once, and later, he glimpsed Gary's sister too, but they disappeared before he could get to them. He was completely lost, and had no idea which direction he should head in.

"Hello." A nice, calm voice caught his attention. "Are you lost?"

Drew looked up to see a tall, teenage girl standing in front of him. She had long, pink hair, blue eyes, and a pleasant, reassuring smile.

"Yes. I have to go to my grade one class." Drew was glad someone was finally helping him.

The girl chuckled. "Well, if you're looking for grade one, then you're a bit off. My name is Solidad, and I can take you back to class if you want."

"Yes, please." Drew said gratefully.

Turned out Drew was not a bit off, but _a lot_ off. He followed Solidad through hallways with many turns, making their way to his destination.

* * *

Meanwhile, May was getting very worried when her friend didn't show up for a long while.

"He's still not here! Where is he?" she wondered worriedly.

"Can I just go outside to play?" Gary grumbled. She wouldn't let him leave until Drew was back, so they could all go outside together.

"No, we have to wait for Drew!" May ordered, anxiously watching the classroom door, with a little hope that he would arrive through it soon.

"Don't worry." Ash reassured her. "He'll probably come back soon."

"Or maybe he won't." Paul pointed out, not looking concerned at all about the situation.

"He has to!" May said frantically.

"No, he doesn't." Paul said monotonously, shrugging. "If he got lost, and he doesn't know anyone, then no one would help him, and he can't get back himself."

"Don't say that!" Ash scolded. "Drew is very smart. He'll ask someone for help, even if he doesn't know them."

"But maybe no one would listen. I go to the big-kid place all the time when I have to go to my brother. Nobody hears you if you don't know how to get their attention."

"Yah, and they step on you!" Gary jumped in. "Once, when I was going to my sister in the big-kid place, people kept stepping on my feet!"

May looked terrified, and even Ash's positive attitude seemed to be wavering.

"What if..." May said in a frightened voice. "What if... he got hurt, and he's lost and scared, and nobody will help him and people keep stepping on his feet and..."

"Who?" A confused voice became present, and May stopped her ranting mid-sentence.

"DREW!" she yelled, launching herself onto the speaker. "You're okay!"

"Um, yes?" Drew had finally arrived with his lunch box, and he was a little puzzled at May's behaviour.

"Are these your friends Drew?" Solidad was at the door, watching them reunite.

"Yes. These are May and Gary and Paul." Drew introduced, before his eyes widened when he realized something. "How do you know my name? I didn't tell it to you."

"Oh, lucky guess." Solidad said, winking. She didn't mention that she had heard May scream it out in front of her.

Drew thought it was a bit odd, how she knew, but didn't think too much into it. "Bye Solidad. Thanks for helping me."

"Bye, Drew! Bye, Drew's friends!" And the pink-haired girl left.

"Can we go to the playground, now?" Gary whined. "Drew's here!"

"Okay!" May finally gave him permission to do as he pleased.

And thus, the five friends went on their way, with Drew starting to eat his lunch, and telling them about his latest adventure.

* * *

**And there you go! I realized that I said I'd be adding more side characters, but I haven't been doing much of that, now, have I? Which is why Solidad made her appearance today!**

**Also, I'm going to be a bit busy this week, so I might not have a lot of writing-time. So if you have suggestions, I'm still willing to hear them, but don't expect me to post a chapter on them right away. I still would be updating, though, because I happen to have a couple of chapters written out in advance for such situations (like this one!).**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	13. Climbing Trees

**Hello! Thursday + finished chapter = today's update! (I thought I should review some math before school starts in about a month)**

**So, like I said before, I didn't have a lot of writing-time for the last few days, so today's chapter is another one of the ones I had already written beforehand. I might get some writing-time during the weekend, though, so everyone who gave suggestions is going to have to wait a little longer before I can write on their topic.**

**Anyways, enjoy today's chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Climbing Trees**

**Grade Two  
**

**May (7), Ash (7), Gary (7), Drew (7), Paul (7), Misty (7)  
**

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"What's going on here?" Misty, along with Gary and May appeared on the scene.

Ash was having an intense argument with a girl with wild, purple hair. The girl looked familiar. She wasn't in the same class as them, but she was in grade two as well, as their school had two classes for each grade. Both she and Ash were stubbornly holding their ground in whatever they were arguing about.

Meanwhile, Paul and Drew were standing to the side, watching them.

"There you guys are!" Gary said, noticing Paul and Drew. "I was wondering where you two went! What are you doing here, though?"

"Watching Ash have a pointless argument with some girl." Paul replied in a bored way.

"Hey! This '_girl'_ has a name! It's Iris!" The purple-haired girl directed a glare at Paul.

"What are they fighting about?" May asked, as, after the brief interruption, Iris went back to yelling at Ash.

"Something about trees." Drew answered. "You see..."

_(Flashback)_

_Drew was strolling around by himself at recess. He wasn't really sure where the others were, but he didn't mind being alone sometimes. A short distance away, he suddenly saw his friend Ash._

_Ash was passing under a tree, when a couple of leaves fell on him from above. When he looked up, he jumped back with a little yelp. _

_"Sorry!" A voice came out from amongst the tree branches. A girl flawlessly jumped out with a flip, landing perfectly in front of Ash on the ground._

_"Did I scare you?" she said in a somewhat teasing manner._

_"Well, yeah, of course you did!" Ash still seemed a bit shocked. "You aren't supposed to be up in trees, yah know. You could fall and get hurt!"_

_"Maybe you could, if you were a little kid like yourself. But _I'm_ an expert at these kinds of things." the girl bragged proudly._

_"Says who?" Ash became annoyed at her arrogance. "I bet I could climb this tree just as well as you can!"_

_"Hmm. No, I don't think so. You're too much of a little kid."_

_"I'm not a little kid! And I _can_ climb this tree!"_

_"No way! I don't believe you."_

_"Yes I can!"_

_"No, you can't."_

_Drew came up to them. "Does it really matter who can climb a tree or not?" he asked. "It's not that important."_

_"Yes it is!" the two who were arguing yelled in unison._

_Drew continued watching them, trying to break it up once or twice before giving up. And then Paul just randomly came out of nowhere to stand beside him, observing the bickering two._

_(End of flashback)_

"So that's what happened." Misty turned to Ash and Iris. "You know, there is no point in arguing about something like that. My sisters do all the time, but they never get anywhere."

"And besides," Gary put in, "I already know Ash is bad at climbing trees. You don't have to fight about it."

"Hah!" Iris exclaimed in triumph. "See, your friend agrees with me!"

Ash scowled. "You're wrong, and he is too."

"Then prove it." Iris challenged. "We'll both climb this tree, and the one who gets the highest wins!"

Ash nervously studied the height of the tree, before putting on a determined face and facing Iris. "You're on!"

"WHAT?! Ash, that's crazy!" Misty yelled.

"You could fall and get hurt! It's dangerous!" May chimed in worriedly.

"Ash, think about what you're doing. What if the branch breaks, or you slip?" Drew reasoned seriously.

"This should be good..." Paul commented in the same way his brother did when someone was about to mess up on TV.

"Yah, tree-climbing challenge!" Gary cheered. "Go Ash! You can do it! Or are you too scared?"

"I'm not scared!" Ash protested. He walked up to the tree trunk and grabbed the lowest branch. May gasped loudly as he hauled himself up.

"See? This isn't that hard!" Ash confidently reached for another branch.

"Too slow!" Iris taunted, as she practically flew up. "Wake me when you catch up." She lay down on a high, sturdy branch with her hands folded behind her head.

Meanwhile, Ash was having a lot more difficulty. The branches were becoming even more difficult to reach and hold on to. But Ash was persistent. He was not about to lose after Iris had made fun of him.

"Ash, this is crazy! Get down here right now!" Misty yelled up to him when he was about eight feet off the ground.

May let out a small scream when he nearly slipped and lost grasp. She turned to whoever was standing at her right, which happened to be Paul.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked him worriedly.

"Nope, he's a goner." Paul responded bluntly. This caused May to panic and start shrieking at him.

"Get someone! Get a teacher!"

"It's not worth it, Ash! Just come back down!" Drew called up. When he refused, Drew called out again. "I'm going to tell the teacher if you don't!"

"Tattletale!" Gary accused his green-haired friend, causing him to hesitate. Seeing, that he had prevented the arrival of a teacher (which would have no doubt put a stop to all the fun), Gary shouted out to Ash.

"Come on, Ashy-boy! You're not even close to where she is!" he cheered wildly.

Ash ignored his friends' shouts of protest as he continued his way up. Iris was looking down at him from her spot, with a face that clearly said "There is no way you can do it." He would show her!

SNAP! Ash suddenly found that the branch under his feet broke off. He was now hanging onto a weak branch with both hands, flailing his legs around, trying to get some footing. Everyone below him was now screaming and yelling. He could even hear Gary's voice, but it didn't sound like he was enjoying this anymore.

"Hold on!" He heard Iris yell as she tried to quickly get to a branch near him to help. His grip was slowly failing, but he wasn't going to let go. He wasn't going to give up...

Unfortunately, the branch he was holding on to had different plans. It broke away, right before Iris could reach him.

* * *

"Owww..." Ash moaned, clearly in pain, as the school nurse examined his ankle.

"Hmmm. Good news is, it doesn't look like it's broken." Nurse Joy informed him. "Bad news is, it's a pretty bad sprain. You're going to have to stay off that foot for a while."

"I'm so sorry." Iris apologized, looking ashamed. She and Ash's friends were in the nurse's office with him. "I didn't think you would actually try to climb so high."

"Well, one thing about Ash is that he never gives up. Even if what he's doing is dumb." Misty looked as if she wasn't sure whether she should be worried about her friend, or angry at him for making her worry. But she did show a bit of annoyance at Iris for making him get himself hurt in the first place.

"Sorry..." Iris really meant it, but Ash was too preoccupied with his ankle to show whether he accepted her apology or not.

"It's a good thing you came to get me, Drew. That was very responsible of you."

When the branch had snapped from under Ash's feet, Drew, after a brief moment of panic, had left hurriedly to get a teacher. The teacher he had found on supervision was Mrs. Thomas, his grade one teacher from last year. While she hadn't arrived in time to avoid the fall, she got Ash to the nurse's office. She had remained with them there to see if her last year's student was okay.

"Recess is over. You kids should get back to class." Nurse Joy advised the six grade-two students.

"But, what about Ash?" May asked anxiously.

"I will call his mother so she can take him to the doctor. He'll be all right, so you have nothing to be worried about." Nurse Joy assured her.

"It's okay guys; I'm fine." Ash managed to say, through all that pain.

One by one, his friends left after saying byes, Gary being the tiniest bit jealous at all the attention Ash was getting. Iris was the last to go, evidently still feeling guilty about being the reason Ash got hurt. She looked at him hesitantly before she went out the door.

"Sorry, Ash." she attempted to apologize again. With great effort, he managed a smile.

"It's okay. It's kinda my fault too." Iris, glad to finally have her apology accepted, went off to class.

Everyone had definitely learned a lesson today: Don't climb a tree unless you actually know how to.

* * *

**And it's Iris's turn to hop in! Poor Ash though.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)  
**


	14. Sleepover

**Hello everyone! Monday is update day, and today is Monday, so you know what that means!  
**

**There was a sudden turn of events, and I found myself with barely any writing-time during the weekend. But I managed to write at every chance I got, and finally got this chapter done. So thanks for being patient, _Bluewolfbat,_ here is the chapter based on your suggestion!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Sleepover**

**Grade Three  
**

**May (8), Dawn (8), Gary (8), Ash (8), Misty (8), Drew (8)**

Dawn excitedly bounced up and down as her friend May entered through the front door.

"May!" she exclaimed as she ran to her friend.

"Dawn!" May was equally excited. "Is everyone else here yet?"

"Yes, you were the last one. Come on, everyone's waiting in my room!" May hurried to Dawn's room, after saying good bye to her mother. She was soon greeted by Drew, Gary, Ash, and Misty. She frowned when she saw someone was missing.

"Where's Paul?" she asked. "I thought you said everyone was here."

"He called and said he wasn't coming." Dawn answered. She was secretly glad he wasn't, since he didn't look like the type of guy who liked to have fun, and she didn't want him to ruin today. Or tonight.

"This is going to be so much fun!" May squealed happily. "Being here with all of my best friends except for Paul!"

"And Leafy." Gary reminded her.

"Oh, yes. And Leaf." May quickly corrected herself.

"Who's Leaf?" Dawn asked curiously.

"She's another one of our best friends." Misty filled her in. "She doesn't go to our school, but she's Gary's next-door neighbour, so you'll probably meet her if you ever come by our neighbourhood."

"I love meeting new people!" Dawn temporarily got lost in thought at the idea of having a best friend whom she hadn't even met yet (they were in the same best friend group, so that automatically made them best friends, right?). "But right now, we're at my house, and we're gonna have a lot of fun. This sleepover is going to be great!"

Dawn had been planning this sleepover for a while, with full support from her mother, who thought it was a wonderful idea for her to get together with her new friends like this. Finally, it was the first Saturday of October, the day she had been waiting for for so long. Time for her long-awaited sleepover!

The six friends started off playing some boardgames, which eventually became a bit boring, so they invented their own way of playing them. This resulted in a chaotic mess (mostly because of Gary) with pieces from about three different games being all jumbled up, and then their game somehow ended up turning into an intense pillow-fight.

When Dawn's mother called them for their dinner, Dawn demanded that everyone clean up, and refused to let anyone exit her room until it was back to being the way it was before they had begun playing. Of course, this was no easy task, and it took a long while. Her friends made a mental note not to let their games go completely out of hand and result in a big mess when Dawn was present.

* * *

"Do you want to hear a story?" Gary asked, grinning mischievously. The five others, who were sitting at the table with him, looked at his curiously.

"What kind of story?" May asked.

"The best kind, of course! _Ghost_ story!" Gary answered excitedly.

"I don't think those are the best kind." Drew said in a matter-of-fact tone. "There are lots of other kinds I like to read, and they're pretty good too."

"Are you saying you're too scared to hear it?" Gary taunted.

"Of course not!" Drew denied indignantly. "I was just saying! So let's hear it!"

"So, do you all want to hear it?" Gary gazed at all his friends. Misty looked as if she were saying "Bring it on!", while May appeared to be a bit wary and Dawn seemed intrigued.

"Is it really scary?" Ash asked through a mouth-full of the pizza they were having for dinner.

"Yes, Ashy-boy, ghost stories are _supposed_ to be scary." Gary rolled his eyes. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Okay..." May said hesitantly, and the others murmured in agreement.

"Okay!" Gary started enthusiastically before make his voice spooky and mysterious. "So, it all happened on an October day. It was Friday the thirteenth, and everything was dark..."

The eight-year-olds listened intently to Gary's story. Their faces soon had looks of horror on them, as Gary filled them in on terrifying details, his voice getting lower as he neared the ending.

"And then..." he whispered as the others, barely breathing, soundlessly paid close attention to his every word, trying not to miss out on anything. "...the little boy heard a quiet whispering right behind him. He couldn't move, because he was too tired of running, and too afraid to turn around. But the voice was getting closer... and closer... and closer...

"And then, he felt an ice-cold hand on his shoulder. He tried to scream, but he couldn't, because it felt like another hand was holding him tight around his neck, choking him. And then he heard a voice in his ear: 'You're coming with me...'. Then, the ghost took him away with him, never to return again. No one knows what happened to the little boy, but people think the ghost took him back to his grave with him, for revenge for waking him up by touching his tomb."

Gary finished dramatically, and his eyes quickly darted around to catch his friends' expressions. They were all quiet and still for a moment.

"That was... spooky." May finally commented.

"I'm gonna have nightmares for days!" Ash said, shivering.

"It wasn't _that_ scary." Misty tried to look tough.

"Y-yeah!" Dawn agreed, although she looked very pale.

Drew shuddered. "At least ghosts don't exist." he pointed out.

"Of course they don't exist!" Misty folded her arms. "There are ghost-type Pokemon, but they're not like the ghosts in Gary's story."

"Are you sure about that?" Gary smirked. "My grandpa says some other scientists study only ghost Pokemon, because there are some ghost Pokemon that might be able to take you to some weird place. I think he said it was the spirit world or something."

"L-let's just do something else!" Dawn quickly changed the topic. "After we're done eating, we can go to my room and play something."

The others nodded and silently completed their food, there minds still questioning the idea of the supernatural.

* * *

"What should we play?" May wondered later when the six friends were gathered in Dawn's room.

"How about tag?" Ash suggested.

Dawn shook her head. "No, my mom won't like all the noise, and we might knock stuff over. Plus, there isn't that much space to run in the hallways and rooms."

"Truth or dare!" Gary said quickly. Dawn looked like she was about to agree, but Ash beat her to it.

"No way! Gary will only make you do something you really don't want to, and he will ask really embarrassing questions for truth!"

"Dress-up!" Dawn exclaimed. "We can play dress-up! I have lots of different clothes and costumes, so we can pretend we're rich and fancy people!"

May nodded eagerly, and Drew didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, but Ash, Gary and Misty refused, because they thought it was too girly. They sat thinking for a moment, until May jumped up as a brilliant suggestion popped into her head.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "Hide-and-seek! It's lots of fun, and it's not girly or rough or anything!"

Dawn looked a bit unsure, but everyone else seemed to think it was a great idea. Dawn stood up and faced all of her friends.

"Okay, we'll play hide-and-seek." she said. "But there are some rules. You're not allowed to go in any rooms that have closed doors, and you have to try not to mess anything up. Okay?"

The group agreed, and once they had a serious competition of rock-paper-scissors, they decided that Dawn was going to count. As she covered her face and began her count to forty, the others ran off to find a hiding place.

While searching for a place to hide, May discovered Drew seated behind a large pot of a green, leafy plant.

"Find another spot." Drew whispered to her, flipping his hair, proud of his hiding spot. "This one's taken." She nodded, and was about to tiptoe off, when she turned back to him and began giggling loudly.

"Ssh!" Drew hushed frantically. If Dawn heard her, she'd know where he was. "What are you laughing at?"

"She'll never find you here!" May managed to say through her giggles. "Your green hair blends in with the plants!" She had to cover her mouth with both hands to prevent herself from bursting out laughing.

Drew glared at her, but he knew Dawn would hear if he had an outburst, so he kept his cool.

"Just go away, June!" he whispered fiercely. May skipped away, but immediately sped up once she heard Dawn reach twenty.

Gary carefully observed his surroundings, trying to locate the perfect place to conceal himself. He prided himself in his clever hiding abilities, but the place he had wanted to hide, which was behind the large chest filled with dress-up clothes in Dawn's walk-in closet, had already been taken by Misty. And so, he continued his search, starting to panic a little as Dawn counted higher and higher.

He found himself in Dawn's room, where there were bedsheets spread out all over the floor, creating the area where they would sleep tonight. A pillow poking out from under the sheets gave him an idea.

He got under the sheet, and set some pillows around him so it looked like the bump he created by lying flat under the sheets was caused by the pillows. However, it wasn't really comfortable. He moved around, trying to adjust his position. Unfortunately, this kept making the sheet slip off him.

"Gary?" He heard Ash's voice. It looked like he had wandered there, searching for a hiding spot for himself.

"Ash! Help me fix this!" The urgency in Gary's voice convinced Ash to aid him without question, and soon Gary was completely concealed under the sheets and pillows.

"Good, now go away!" Gary ordered, his whisper coming out muffled. He didn't want Ash to stick around and give away his ingenious hideout.

"And forty! Ready or not, here I come!" Dawn's voice could be heard from the hallway. Ash froze in mid-step, and his eyes darted from place to place, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, where he could hide.

As Dawn's footsteps could be heard approaching the room, the black-haired boy panicked, and, without thinking, dove under the bedsheets with Gary. Gary held back a groan. Ash was going to give away his spot and ruin everything!

"Ash, go somewhere else!" Gary hissed as quietly possible. He closed his mouth immediately when he heard someone enter the room.

"I know you're in here!" Dawn sang as she looked around. Gary didn't dare move a muscle, and fortunately, neither did Ash. They waited, holding their breaths, until their friend's footsteps went out the door. The two boys relaxed somewhat, but they knew she'd be back later.

"Found you May!" Dawn's voice rang through the air a short while later as she uncovered her bandana-wearing friend hiding under the dining room table. After a few moments, it seemed she noticed Drew as well, and the three returned to her room.

"Let's check the closet." Drew suggested, and the closet door squeaked as they went in. There was a very brief silence, before Dawn yelled out that she saw Misty behind the chest of clothes. Gary felt a bit smug. If he had hid there instead of Misty, he would have been the one who was caught. He now felt glad she had taken that spot before him.

"Aw man!" Misty's voice could be heard. "So, was I the last one?"

"No, we're still looking for Ash and Gary." May answered.

"Where could they be? I already looked everywhere." Dawn wondered.

"Let's try downstairs one more time." Drew said, and the four left the room.

Gary felt like cheering. They were never going to find him! They would give up, and then he would triumphantly emerge from his spot. Sure, he was really starting feel cramped, but it was worth it!

Few minutes turned to half an hour before Dawn, Drew, May and Misty began calling out to them. "We give up! You can come out now!"

Gary grinned widely as he began standing up. But then he tripped.

"Come on, Ashy-boy!" he said irritatedly. "They're calling us!" Ash, who still hadn't gotten up, was holding down part of the bedsheets with him, preventing Gary from getting up properly.

"I can't! My foot's stuck!" Apparently, a corner of the sheet had twisted around his ankle, making it hard for him to come out from his hiding place. Gary scowled, but still tried to remove the sheet from Ash's foot, because if Ash couldn't get up, then Gary couldn't either.

They struggled under the sheets a bit, before Ash's foot was finally rescued. Then, putting on a victorious smirk, Gary began to lift the cover from his head. But there was one problem. He couldn't find the way out from underneath those bedsheets!

"Um, Gary? Can you help me out of here?" It appeared that Ash was trapped as well.

"No, 'cause I need get out of here first!" Gary failed once again to escape. The sheets had twisted around them in such a way that escape seemed impossible.

"What do we do now?" Ash questioned. "We can't stay like this forever!"

"Of course not!" Gary snapped, feeling that this was all somehow Ash's fault. "We just need to think a bit..."

"Maybe the others will help us out." Ash reasoned. "Let's go find them."

Gary was very reluctant to go with what Ash had said. It would ruin the whole effect! Instead of appearing impressive and triumphant, he'd just be humiliated. They others would probably laugh at him for getting stuck in his own hiding spot. But there didn't seem to be a better solution, so, begrudgingly, he set out with Ash to find the other four.

It was very difficult to see where they were heading, and they kept stumbling as the sheets got caught in their feet, and there always seemed to be something that got in their way. They bumped into a small table, causing the vase on top of it to come crashing to the floor.

Meanwhile, Dawn, Drew, May and Misty were wondering why the two boys hadn't showed up yet. They called a couple more times, before being interrupted by a loud crash.

May jumped at the sudden noise. "What was that?" she asked worriedly.

"No need to worry, it's probably nothing." Dawn tried to assure her, although she was a bit puzzled herself.

"It sounded like something falling." Drew figured.

"Those two better not be messing things up!" Dawn said angrily. "I made those rules for a reason!"

"Let's go see." Misty began making her way upstairs to where the sound had come from.

When she got upstairs, she saw a strange sight. There was something big and white making its way towards her, making odd, muffled sounds as it moved in a funny, lopsided manner. With Gary's story from earlier still being fresh in her mind, the first thought that came to her was...

"GHOST!" Misty's scream got Drew, Dawn and May scrambling to her side.

"G-g-g-ghost!" Dawn shrieked, pointing at the white creature.

"Let's get out of here!" Drew yelled, and they ran into the nearest room, which turned out being the bathroom.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Misty wondered anxiously, looking pale.

"I don't wanna go to the ghost's grave!" May whimpered.

The door creaked open, revealing the covered figure on the other side. To the four friends' horror, it began to enter the bathroom after them. May and Dawn screamed in fear, while Drew backed off, and Misty got ready to fight.

"Go away!" Dawn shrieked, throwing a toothbrush at it.

"Hey, that's my toothbrush!" Misty said, clearly annoyed.

"Misty?" A muffled voice was emitted from the ghost. May gasped loudly.

"It's got Ash!" she hollered. "We have to save him!"

"Give Ash back!" Drew yelled, his fear evaporating as he stepped forward.

"Get it!" Misty let out a battle cry as she launched herself onto the ghost, knocking it to the ground, and pushing it from the doorway into the hall. Drew joined her, helping her hold it down. The ghost let out yells of protest and fought back, kicking and struggling.

"May, Dawn, help me!" Misty called out, and the two girls joined them, trying to hold onto whatever part of the ghost they could snatch on to.

"Ouch, that's my HAIR!" the ghost yelled. The others paused. It had hair?

"Wait a minute..." Drew began tugging on the white sheets, and, with the others helping him, he soon uncovered two heads: Gary's and Ash's.

"Ash? Gary?" Misty said incredulously.

"Oww..." Gary moaned as he rubbed his hair. "What did you attack us for?"

"That hurt..." Ash tried to separate himself from the sheets.

"Kids?" The six friends looked up to see that Dawn's mother had arrived on the scene. "What are you doing? I was busy on the computer, but once I heard all of you yelling and screaming, I got here as fast as I could."

The six looked at their feet, feeling guilty for worrying Dawn's mother.

"We're just playing. Sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Berlitz." Drew apologized politely.

Dawn's mother smiled tiredly. "It's okay. It's great that you guys are having fun, but it's getting late. You guys should start getting ready for bed." The six kids nodded.

Johanna helped her daughter, Dawn, and her friends spread the bedsheets on the floor again, and make a comfortable sleeping area with the blankets and pillows. Soon, the lights were out, and six eight-year-olds were whispering amongst one another, none of them feeling sleepy.

This, they decided, was the best sleepover they had ever had.

* * *

**Done! So how was it?  
**

**Just a little side note: this chapter was based on a suggestion by _Bluewolfbat_. So the sleepover and ghost-bedsheets idea was not mine (I don't want to take all the credit for that).**

**Okay, so I wanted to tell you guys that this month is going to be very busy for me, and that means I am going to have less writing time. I really like writing for this and updating for you guys, but unfortunately, I am going to have to change my update schedule to once a week. How about either Saturday or Sunday? I might still update more than once from time to time, depending on how many chapters I manage to complete, but my goal for now has become once a week. I'm sorry! I just thought I should let you guys know.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	15. Picnic Day

**Hello everyone! So here is today's update, and the last Thursday update. I said in the last chapter's author's note that I'm changing my update schedule to once a week, on either Saturday or Sunday, so my next update will be on one of those days. Not the upcoming weekend, the one after.  
**

**Okay, let's get on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Picnic Day  
**

**Grade Two  
**

**May (7), Drew (8), Gary (8), Ash (8), Misty (8), Paul (8)**

The day promised clear skies and warm weather, and the grade two students couldn't be more thrilled. After all, how would they have managed to have a great picnic field trip if it were raining all the time?

Grade two was going to a park as a class for a picnic. The park had a large picnic area with benches, and a large lake that was known for the many Psyduck that swam in it. There were also wide, open spaces covered in grass, and trees that surrounded the entire area.

The teachers that had come along to supervise asked that all students stay in pairs at all times. This was no difficult task for May, Drew, Gary, Ash, Misty and Paul. The six of them were best friends, and since there was an even number of them, it was not hard to figure out how they should pair up. Gary and Paul made one pair, while May and Drew made another, and then finally, Ash and Misty.

They started out with outdoor activities, like the three-legged race. Everyone tied their leg with their partner's, and tried to keep themselves balanced as they made their way to the finish line.

Drew and May had perfect balance, but they weren't fast enough. They found themselves being left behind as a bunch of other pairs passed them.

"Hurry, Drew, we're gonna lose!" May urged, speeding up a bit.

"Slow down, May!" They were starting to go a bit out of rhythm now.

"Come on, Slowpoke! We can still win!"

"May, look out for the-" Drew warned her too late. May stumbled over a large rock that was in the way, and the two ended up in a heap on the ground.

"Aww man, November!" Drew complained as he got up and dusted himself.

"My name is May!"

Up ahead, a few pairs remained standing, but only two seemed to have a chance at winning. Ash and Misty's pair, as well as Gary and Paul's were ahead of everyone else. These two teams were neck in neck as they headed for the finish line.

Ash, being determined, and Misty, being athletic, were doing very well, and were the perfect team partners. However, Gary and Paul were too, and to win, Misty knew that they would have to speed up. She attempted to, but her sudden change of pace broke their rhythm, causing Ash to stumble and bring Misty down with him.

"If it had been Leaf, we wouldn't have fallen." Misty quietly grumbled. Misty had met Leaf through Ash and Gary. Since they were both about the same age, and lived in the same neighbourhood (along with Ash and Gary) they hung out often and got along really well.

Gary and Paul eventually crossed the finish line to win. Paul settled for smirking victoriously, while Gary went on a boasting spree, working hard to rub it into everyone's face, especially Ash's.

They all continued with games for a while, often dividing into teams of four or more for some of the activities. Ash and Misty got to be winners when their team won capture-the-flag. Gary bragged that the reason his team won tug-of-war was due to his amazing strength, although Paul and some other boys, like Stephan, who were on his team, were evidently stronger than him. May's team ended up doing really well in the scavenger hunt, and was the only team that managed find a bandana from the list.

* * *

The six friends sat at a bench together, joined by a couple of other classmates, while the teachers served the food. They had all enjoyed the activities (even Drew, although May's clumsiness had cost them some of the games), and were now glad they could relax and have lunch.

"That was really fun!" Ash said happily, as a teacher placed two sandwiches and some vegetables into his plate. He began eating immediately.

"Yeah," May agreed, "but I wish we could have won more."

"You're the reason we lost so many games." Drew accused, but in a playful way.

"You didn't lose every game, though." Ash pointed out, his mouth full. "You won sometimes when you were in teams."

"But _I_ won most of the time!" Gary bragged. "Right, Paul?" Paul didn't answer because he was currently too busy drinking orange juice through a straw from his juice box.

"No, please." Misty said politely to a teacher, who was about to put some vegetables into her plate. "I don't like carrots and peppers."

"That's funny!" Gary laughed. "Because your head is like a carrot!" His reference to her orange hair resulted with him getting a hard whack on his head.

* * *

Later, the six friends were walking along the lake's shore.

"Look at all the Pokemon!" Ash pointed to the many Psyduck swimming in the water.

"They're water type." Misty noted. Water type Pokemon were her favourite, after all.

"They're Psyduck." Gary said. "My grandpa told me."

"Look!" May giggled. A Psyduck was poking its head out of the water right in front of them, staring at May.

"I think it wants your sandwich." Drew pointed at the sandwich May was holding.

"But it's _my_ sandwich!" May whined, unwilling to share it.

"Aw, come on, May! Just give it a little piece." Ash urged.

"Okay... Here you go, then." May reluctantly handed a piece over to the yellow Pokemon. Suddenly, another popped up.

"You want one too?" It received a piece as well. But then another arrived.

Before May knew it, she was being swarmed by a flock of Psyduck. To make matters worse, her sandwich was all gone.

"I don't have anymore!" she yelled as she tried to run away, but it seemed the Pokemon didn't understand. Eventually, a teacher had to shoo them off.

"Hey, Misty." Ash pointed to something at his friend's feet. "I think that Psyduck likes you." There was one last Psyduck left outside the water, and for some reason, it was standing beside Misty.

"I don't have any food with me. So go back into the water." Misty told the Pokemon. It just stood there, holding its head as if it had a headache, staring up at her blankly. Misty started to walk away, but it began waddling after her.

"I don't have anything." Misty informed it again.

"Psy?" It tilted its head, as if to ask "Nothing?"

"Yes, now you understand." But it didn't, because it continued following.

"Go away, you dumb Psyduck!"

"Psy-yie-yie."

"I said go away!"

The Pokemon continued following her for the rest of the picnic. It wouldn't even go away when a teacher tried to scare it off.

* * *

"I thought you liked water Pokemon." Ash commented as everyone waited for the bus that would take them back to school.

"Well, I don't like dumb Psyduck that follow you around everywhere!" Misty was getting really annoyed. It was _still_ standing beside her.

"But it's so cute!" May gushed.

"It looks like it's lost. Maybe it wants directions from you." Drew theorized.

"The lake is right there! How can it be lost?"

"Maybe it thinks you're its mom." Gary joked. "You do look just like it!" That earned him a second whack that day.

"At least I won't have to put up with it anymore." Misty sighed in relief as the bus arrived. They all got on, and May and her friends went to sit in the back seats. Soon, they were on their way.

Everyone on the bus was discussing their day, when suddenly, Paul, who had just been quietly listening to their chatter the whole time, spoke up.

"It's still following you, Misty." Misty looked at him confusedly before realizing that he was not looking at her, but out the back window. She looked too, and sure enough, a yellow blob could be seen in the distance, making its way to them.

"WHAT?!" Looked like the Psyduck was determined to follow her home.

* * *

**Oh Psyduck! That funny yellow duck that would pop out of its pokeball at the most inconvenient times. Misty actually didn't catch Psyduck herself in the anime. It was following her, Ash and Brock, and then one of Misty's pokeballs fell and Psyduck just caught itself. So Misty ended up with a Pokemon she didn't really want, but learned to love. Kind of funny.**

**Don't forget: next update will be on either August 16th or 17th, not this upcoming weekend or Monday/Thursday.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	16. Bake Sale

**Hello, everyone! Nice to see you guys again!  
**

**Sorry for the long wait. I did tell you guys I would be busy! But the good news is, I managed to finish today's chapter! I got so many great reviews from you guys last time, and they were all really motivating, so I wrote at every chance I got until I was done. And since I'm done early, and you guys have been waiting for so long, I'm going to update early! So thanks for both the reviews and being patient. Happy reading! :D  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

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**Bake Sale **

**Grade One  
**

**May (6), Drew (6), Paul (6), Gary (6), Ash (6)**

May couldn't wait until lunchtime. Last week, it had been announced that there was going to be a bake sale today at lunch, and that meant May could buy many different kinds of treats for herself. And this was something she was really looking forward to, as she had quite the sweet-tooth.

Finally, _finally_ the bell rang, signalling the end of class and the start of lunch. Only a few kids took out their lunch bags, but everyone else rushed out, being eager to get to the sale as soon as possible. Poor May got pushed to the back of the crowd of children, and was one of the last ones to exist her classroom, along with Drew, who had decided to wait patiently for an opening rather than pushing past the others in an unmannerly fashion.

The hall was crowded with kids, all hoping to get to the sale before all the goodies ran out. May skipped the whole way there, which made the coins in her pocket jingle and bounce, and sound like they were begging to be spent. She dragged her green-haired friend with her, urging him to move faster, since he usually took his time walking to a destination.

When the two finally reached the place they were heading to, they saw three different tables, covered in cookies and brownies and cupcakes and cakes and much more. Each table was attended to by one higher-grade student, who worked quickly to manage his or her customers. Three long lineups had formed, one in front of each table. May decided to get into the line for the table at the far left, while Drew took a place in the line for the middle table.

Gary had reached the front of the line at the far right. He was currently conversing with the person who was on the other side of the table, who happened to be his sister.

"But Daisy, you're my sister!" he whined. "Can't you just give me that cupcake for free?"

Daisy, who was volunteering to sell the treats for the bake sale, sighed. "I already told you; I can't. These aren't mine, and I'm selling them to make money for the school, not myself." she tried to explain for the third time.

"But you already have lots of money!"

"Gary, the others in line are waiting." Daisy was starting to get irritated. "You could have bought this cupcake if you had spent your money wisely, but since you didn't, you can't have them. Now go; you're holding up the line."

Gary, grumbling at getting scolding and not getting the cupcake he wanted, trudged out of the way of a grade two student, who had been waiting impatiently behind him.

Surprisingly, Paul, who was not a fan of overly-sugary (in his opinion), cakey desserts, could also be spotted amongst the other students. He was with his brother, Reggie, who seemed to be asking him for a big favour.

"Please, Paulie?" Reggie pleaded. "Just this once?"

"No." Paul was stubborn. "And don't call me 'Paulie'."

"Pretty please?" Reggie tried again.

"Why can't you do it yourself?" his little brother questioned, refusing once again.

"Well, some of my buddies and I were gonna play this game outside, and we're going to start in a few minutes. Trust me, I normally would buy what I want myself, but I just don't have the time right now." Reggie explained. "So could you _please_...?"

"No. I wanna go eat my lunch."

Reggie sighed. He knew he wouldn't get anywhere like this. It was time to move on to plan B.

"Okay, let's make a deal." The statement from his older brother caught the first-grader's attention.

"So, you go buy me the cake and cookies I want using my money, and I'll let you keep the change." Reggie offered.

Paul didn't agree, as he sensed a loophole that he just couldn't catch.

"Fine." Reggie gave in. "If there is no change, I'll give you three dollars when we get home. That sound good?"

Paul finally agreed to the tempting offer, and his brother hurried off to meet with his friends. Paul got into the line on the right, unknowingly cutting in front of another boy in the process. The boy scowled and poked the purple-head to get his attention.

"Hey! This was my spot!" he growled angrily. "I was here first!"

Paul turned around to face the dirty-blond-haired boy, his black eyes, boring into his pale grey ones. He recognized the boy as another first-grader named Trip, though they weren't in the same grade one class.

"Too bad." Paul said monotonously, turning to face the front again. He hadn't realized that the shorter boy had, indeed, been there before him, and he had unintentionally taken his place. All he saw was some whining kid who thought he should be in front of him.

"You can't do that!" Trip complained, but was ignored. He glared at the back of Paul's head. He had been trying to get to the front of the line for a while, but being short, even for a first-grader, people weren't noticing him, and kept taking his place. Now, he had had enough. Instead of staying at the back of the line, he decided that he was going to try to squeeze in somewhere closer to the front.

He looked around, and noted a black-haired boy wearing a cap in the middle line. He knew who that was. It was Ash, another first-grader, and he was known for being very friendly and forgiving, which meant it would be easy to cut in front of him without causing a big argument. Once he saw his chance, Trip slipped in front of his cap-wearing victim.

"Um, I was here before you, so this my spot." Ash informed him.

"Well, you were too slow, so now it's mine." Trip shot back.

"But the teacher says that you're not allowed to do that. You have to go to the back of the line." Ash pointed out.

"No I don't. People kept taking my spot, so it's only fair that I get to take someone else's. Even the teacher would agree." Trip drawled, sounding very knowledgeable.

"Oh, okay." Ash fell for it, and allowed him to stay in the spot that he had apparently 'rightfully' taken. Poor, gullible Ash.

Meanwhile, Drew had finally arrived at the table, where he was about to pick out what he wanted.

"So, what would you like?" the pink-haired girl, who was in charge of that table, asked him.

"I want..." Drew stopped mid-sentence when he saw that he recognized the girl. "Hey, I know you! Your name is, um..."

"Solidad." the girl reminded him. "And you were Drew, weren't you? Nice to see you again!"

"You remember my name?" Drew asked interestedly.

Solidad laughed lightly. "Of course I do!" After all, who could forget that cute, polite, green-haired first-grader who got lost in the halllways?

Drew flipped his hair, beaming at the fact that he had made such an unforgettable impression on one of the 'big-kids'.

In the line to the left, a certain bandana-wearing six-year-old had made it to the table, where she planned to purchase a bunch of delicious desserts to satisfy her sweet-tooth. She was greeted by a teenage boy with a large green hat sitting on his long, purple hair.

"Hello, pumpkin-pie!" he said. "Harley's my name! And you're looking for some yummy goodies, huh, honey-bun?"

"Hi, I'm May!" May introduced herself cheerily. "And I want some, ummmm..." She scanned the table, finding it to be a challenge to make a decision. Her mother had only given her a few dollars, but it didn't seem enough for all the baked goods before her.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Harley offered. May looked up at him curiously.

"Try those!" he gestured to a plate full of Cacturne-shaped cookies. "I made them myself for this sale, so I can guarantee that you'd love them!"

"Ooooo! They're pretty scare-looking, aren't they?" May commented.

"Huh? Well, if you say so." Harley forced a large smile on his face, but he couldn't help but take a little offense at her words. _Scary-looking? I thought they were pretty cute. And Solidad agreed with me... _he thought irritatedly.

May pulled out the coins her mother had given her that made up five dollars. She held them in her hand, her mind still not made up.

"Tell you what! How about I give you a little sample?" Harley suggested. "You can see if you like it or not, and if you want more, you can buy some."

May's eyes shone eagerly as she reached out for the free sample Harley was handing to her. She nibbled the head of the Cacturne-cookie.

"This is really yummy!" she exclaimed. "Can I have another one?"

Harley grinned. He knew his plan to get her to buy his cookies would work! "Ah ah ah!" he wagged his finger, winking. "You're going to have to pay if you want some more, sugar-plum!"

"Oh." Instead of handing over her money like he was expecting her to, May turned to the other treats on the table. "Can I have that big chocolate muffin and two of those chocolate-chip cookies?"

Harley blinked. "But... I thought you said you wanted more of _my_ cookies."

"No, it's okay. I already have one." May held up her unfinished sample. "I want something else now."

Harley begrudgingly handed over what she had ordered and collected her money.

"You have some change left over." he informed her. "It's enough for another Cacturne-cookie, so if you want, you could..."

"Can I have that brownie, too?" May asked, pointing to what she had chosen.

"No Cacturne-cookie?" Harley was starting to get really annoyed. He had practically given her a free cookie, but she wasn't interested in buying any more herself!

"Your cookies weren't half-bad, but I like brownies more." May explained, not knowing that she had worsened the offense Harley felt.

Once she received her brownie, May began making her way back to her classroom. When she wasn't looking, Harley whipped out his cell phone and secretly took a picture of her. The nerve of that girl, acting as if his wonderful cookies weren't anything special! He'd make her pay for that some day...

"Um, Mister?" He looked down to see that his next customer, a little grade two girl, was trying to get his attention. "Can I have a free cookie, too?"

"No!" Harley snapped, taking the little girl by surprise.

* * *

Back in their grade one classroom, May, Drew, Gary, Ash, and Paul were gathered with the treats they had bought.

May was nibbling her chocolate muffin, as she had completed her Cacturne-cookie. Her chocolate-chip cookies and brownie, soon to be eaten, were waiting for her on a napkin on her desk.

Drew wasn't feasting on the treats he had bought, because he felt full after finishing his lunch. Instead, the several frosted cupcakes he had purchased were put in some small plastic boxes, so that he could take them home for later.

Gary was munching on a large brownie, purposely in front of Ash, who hadn't managed to buy a brownie because Trip, being in front of him, had bought the last one. He had, however, succeeded in getting a hold of some of the cupcakes that Gary had wanted, and refused to share them with his spiky-haired friend, because he wouldn't share his brownie.

Paul had his older brother's order ready to be picked up, while Paul himself looked forward to the three dollars that had been promised to him.

It had certainly been a satisfactory bake sale.

* * *

**Two new appearances for today, by both Trip and Harley. So, what did you guys think? Was the bake sale indeed satisfactory, as the last line says?  
**

**I had the idea to make Harley's appearance like this for a while now. In fact, I had it even before I wrote the Solidad chapter a while back (Those Confusing Hallways). I just ended up writing this once much later.**

**And Trip came in too! I'm not exactly sure how he ended up in there, but I was thinking about how many kids just cut in line and then he just popped into my head (not sure why though). I guess he kind of seems OOC right now, but I hope I can fix that by eventually including him in another chapter where he is more in-character (and this time with his signature digital camera!). I haven't completely planned out that chapter yet, though.  
(PS. I wasn't exactly sure what colour Trip's hair was, as it always looks kind of green-ish to me, but according to some website, it's dirty-blond. So if you disagreed with me saying his hair is dirty-blond, I just said that because of the website.)**

**Also, I'm doing a little poll on who you think is your favourite out of the main eight. With this information, I can find out things like who I might need to work on, who you guys want more chapters on, stuff like that. Be sure to check my profile to vote!**

**Wow, I talk a lot, don't I? Ironically, I'm actually _very_ quiet. See you during my next update!  
**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	17. Poster Wars

**Hello everyone! And a good day to you all!  
**

**I said last week that I would post a chapter on either Saturday or Sunday, so here it is! Okay, I did update on Thursday (with the chapter I had originally planned to post today), but then I got a suggestion from someone, and I _really_ felt like writing because of it. How I managed to write my longest chapter yet in two days when I was so busy is a mystery, but I think you guys are more interested in reading than wondering how I did it.**

**Today's topic was suggested by _eeveeluvr_, so here it is!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

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**Poster Wars  
**

**Grade Four  
**

**May (9), Gary (9), Paul (9), Drew (9), Misty (9), Ash (9), Dawn (9), Leaf (9)  
**

"Come on, Gary!" May whined. "We're all supposed to be doing this together!"

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute..." Gary responded absentmindedly, as he was more focused on his chess game with Paul.

"You said that half an hour ago!"

May and her seven friends were all gathered at Leaf's house. Their grade four teacher had told everyone to divide into groups of three or four and make a poster on a Pokemon habitat for next week. Initially, these eight had planned to make two groups, one with the boys, and another with the girls, but it seemed they all had different ideas for the poster.

Misty, Gary and Dawn wanted to do a more water-themed poster, while Leaf, Drew and Ash preferred to do a forest-themed one. May had decided to join the water-theme group, because she wanted to do the poster with Dawn, while Leaf had dragged Paul into her group before he could decide. After Gary had bragged that his group would make the best poster, Leaf, being the competitive girl she was, had declared war, with the winner being whoever made the better poster.

And so it was the weekend, and the two groups were all working at Leaf's house, except there was one small problem. Gary brought his chess board over from next door, and challenged Paul to a match, which of course he didn't decline. The two groups were annoyed that one member from each was not working hard on their project.

"Gary, you come help us or else!" Misty threatened.

"Check." Gary warned Paul, who made a move to protect his king.

"Paul, please?" Ash pleaded. "It's not fair that you're not doing any of the work."

"Check's on you now." Paul said, completely ignoring the black-haired boy and smirking at Gary.

Leaf frowned. She didn't get it! What was so interesting about chess that it completely captured the two boys' attention? Especially Gary's! She had known him for nearly her whole life, and she knew that he was not someone who liked to sit around and focus on something so _boring_. One day, he just somehow got interested in checkers, which Leaf never found any competitive excitement in. And then he got into chess, which was ten times worse! He'd just sit there for so long, just staring at the board without _doing_ anything.

Leaf had once tried to play it with him, but she couldn't stand it. Gary had been taking so long just to think out his first move, and then, when she had asked him to hurry up, he had gotten annoyed at her impatience, and beat her in three moves. Apparently, he had picked that move up from somewhere, and used it on Leaf because she kept interrupting his train of thought for a longer, more complicated strategy. The only good thing that came from all that was that Leaf learned what the role of each piece was. She could use this knowledge to her advantage right now.

"Ash," she said, looking at her poster partner. "You are never going to get anywhere by saying 'please' to those two. _This_ is how you do it."

She got up and walked over to the chess-players and carefully scanned all their pieces. Before either of them could do anything, she snatched up what she knew was the most important piece: the king.

Paul's head snapped up. "That's my king, so give it back. _Now_." he demanded. Leaf grinned mischievously as she shook her head and held the piece tightly in her fist behind her back.

"Leafy, how are we supposed to play if Paul doesn't have his king?" Gary complained. "How am I supposed to put him on checkmate?"

"You're not. You guys aren't even supposed to be playing chess right now." Leaf answered.

"Come on, Leafy, I was winning! I was about to defeat him!"

"No, cuz he probably would have noticed your plan and then stopped it, and then the game would have gone on for much longer." Leaf pointed out.

Paul stood up, facing the girl, his black eyes sending a glare at her green ones. "Give. Me. The king."

Leaf stared right back at him, not intimidated one bit. For some reason, his glares never seemed to affect her. "Nope! But let's make a deal. I'll only give it back if you work on the poster with us for at least one hour. Then, after we beat Gary at making the best poster, you can go back to beating him at chess."

"Hey!" Gary scowled. "_I_ was the one who was winning!"

Paul narrowed his eyes, considering her offer, before giving in. "Fine. But you have to give it back right after."

"_Paul!_" Gary pouted. "You could just take it back from her or something!" Paul just rolled his eyes and begrudgingly took his place with his group.

"Good. Now you can come help us too, Gary." Dawn called her spiky-haired friend over.

"Fine." He sat down with his group. "So, what were we doing again?"

Misty glared at him. "You wouldn't be asking that if you were helping us."

"We're doing a Pokemon-water-habitat poster, I know that." Gary said, rolling his eyes. "I mean _how_ are we planning to do it?"

"You would have known that too." Misty muttered.

"Well, we're going to make the ocean, and a little island." Dawn explained. "There are going to be lots of water Pokemon, and some flying type like Wingull and Pelipper flying in the air. And we have to write some information beside everything we make."

"The instructions say that we also have to show things, like the kind of food the Pokemon eat in the area, how they live with the other Pokemon, and things like that." May added.

"Okay, that doesn't sound hard. What should I do?" Gary asked.

"Well, Misty's writing about the water Pokemon, and May and I are drawing the pictures and decorating." Dawn told him. Her eyes lit up in excitement as a thought entered her head. "I know! You can write some Pokemon poetry like your grandpa, Professor Oak!"

Gary groaned. "My grandpa's the one who writes poems. _Not me_."

"Oh, come on! Please?" Dawn urged. "I'm sure you probably know lots of poems because of him!"

"How about I just draw a Blastoise on the island?" Gary suggested, wanting to get off topic. Dawn looked a bit disappointed, but she allowed him to proceed with his idea.

Meanwhile, with Leaf's group...

"Wow, that's a very nice rose, Drew." Leaf complimented.

"Thanks!" Drew didn't take his eyes off of the rose bush he was sketching meticulously.

"Okay, Paul, so what are you going to do?" Leaf asked the purple-haired boy.

"Don't know, don't care." he replied, looking bored.

"Okay, then..." Leaf smirked. "Draw all the cute Pokemon, like the Buneary, that live in the forest."

Paul narrowed his eyes. "No, something else. What are the others doing?"

Drew straightened up to look over his sketches. "I'm drawing all the plants and stuff."

"Drew's drawing all the _green_ plants?" May, who had overheard, commented, bursting into giggles.

"At least you can tell what I'm drawing. I'm not even _sure_ what those scribbles you made are, February." Drew shot back, immediately resulting in a pouting May. Drew flipped his hair victoriously.

"It's not _my_ fault I don't get special art lessons from tutors like you do." the bandana-wearing girl defended. "And my name is May!"

"Don't listen to him." Dawn comforted her. "Your work is beautiful!"

May, in a slightly better mood from her friend's encouragement, but still a little moody, went back to her drawing. Drew felt a bit relieved. He was afraid he had accidentally upset her a bit too much.

"Yeah, yeah, Drew's drawing his hair. What else?" Paul asked impatiently, ignoring the small shout of protest he received from his green-haired friend.

"I'm making all the cool bug Pokemon!" Ash announced excitedly, earning a disgusted look from Misty. "There's Caterpie, and Metapod, and Venonat, and Beedrill, and..."

"And you?" Paul interrupted, turning his attention to Leaf.

"I'm drawing all the other Pokemon, and the doing all the labeling and writing and stuff."

"Fine. I'll do all the writing then. You just draw."

With everyone's role settled, the two groups got to work. They were quiet for a while, as they were pretty busy. Eventually, Gary ended up helping Misty with the writing, as he knew many details that he had picked up from his grandpa. It was discovered that May was actually much better at colouring than drawing, as she added bright colours to Dawn's pictures. Ash had to start helping Drew finish drawing all the plants, as Drew took so much time detailing his sketches instead of working faster. Paul turned out to be very knowledgeable about Pokemon, as he sometimes read his brother's school work about Pokemon Studies. Leaf put many drawings and colours onto their poster, and very neatly too.

Eventually, it looked like everything was done. All the writing and labels were proofread, and all the pictures coloured in. But both groups thought their posters were missing something. Something that would make their work _really_ stand out.

"Glitter!" Dawn whispered to her group members. "We can put glitter to make the water look sparkly!"

"But we don't have glitter." May pointed out, frowning. "And if we ask Leaf, she'll take our idea!"

"My house is next door. I can quickly go see if Daisy has anything." Gary offered.

"Okay, go! And hurry!" Misty urged, and he took off. The other group noticed.

"Looks like they got an idea for their poster." Leaf noted. "Gary probably went to his house to get something. We need to think of something, and fast!"

"This is your house, Leaf." Ash said. "Don't you have any art stuff?"

"Hmm, maybe..." Leaf looked thoughtful. "I know! Wait, I'll be back in a second!" She sped off to another room.

After a while, Leaf and Gary returned, both hiding whatever they had brought to prevent their rival group from seeing it. As they quietly used their 'secret weapons', a loud, delighted whisper emerged from Dawn. "Ooooo, this looks gorgeous! Ours is gonna be the best for sure!"

Leaf, Drew, Ash and Paul curiously glanced at the others. What was so great that they thought they were going to win their little 'contest'? They just had to know!

"We've got to see what they're up to." Leaf declared, taking on the 'leader' role for her group. "We need to now what they're doing so we can make our poster better."

"But how? If we try to peek at their work, they would know we're spying." Drew reasoned.

"What if..." Leaf thought aloud. "What if only one of us goes, and pretends we only need something from them, and then quickly looks at what they are doing, and comes back and tells us!"

"Ash should go." Paul volunteered his black-haired friend. "The others won't think he's smart or sneaky enough to do something like that."

"Hey!" Ash protested. "I can be _very_ smart and sneaky!"

"Good idea though. It makes sense." Drew gave his support. "Ash should definitely go."

"So, what should I do?" Ash asked.

"Just ask them for a green pencil crayon." Leaf directed.

"But we already have enough green pencil crayons. Wouldn't that be like lying?"

"You don't have to say we _need_ one, just ask for one!" Paul said, exasperated.

"And don't forget to get a good look at their poster." Drew reminded him.

"Okay... but wait! Wouldn't that be like cheating?" His three friends groaned.

"Another reason why the others won't suspect anything." Paul muttered. "Too much of a goody-two-shoes."

"Ash, just do it." Leaf ordered, tiredly.

Ash hesitated a bit, but then obeyed. Once the other group spotted Ash approaching them, they hurriedly arranged themselves to block their poster from view.

"Hello..." May said warily.

"What do you want, Ash-boy?" Gary snapped.

"Well, um, I need a... I mean, I want a, um..."

"Just say it!" Misty was annoyed with his stuttering.

"Can I have a green pencil crayon?" Ash finally managed to ask.

"Why?" Gary asked suspiciously.

_Why? _Ash panicked. Why did he need a green pencil crayon? The others never told him what to say in this situation! Ash had to think on the spot himself. What did one do with a green pencil crayon?

"To colour!" he blurted out.

"Wow, way to state the obvious." Gary remarked sarcastically.

"Well, if you knew, then why did you ask?!" Ash demanded angrily.

"You guys already have so many green colours." Dawn pointed out. "Why do you need another one?"

"For our awesome poster!" Ash bragged. "We're going to make it better than yours!"

"Do whatever you want, because we'll win no matter what!" Gary boasted confidently.

"So can I have the pencil?" Ash asked. The other four looked at one another.

"I guess you can." Misty said shrugging.

"I'll just go get it..." As Dawn got up to get the pencil, and the other three turned, Ash quickly got on his tip-toes to steal a glance at their poster. It was hard to see over Gary's spiky hair, but he finally succeeded in catching a glimpse. His eyes widened at the sight, and he straightened out as fast as he could when the others turned towards him again.

"Here you go." Dawn handed him what he was asking for.

"Thanks!" Ash began heading back to his group.

"Bye bye!" May waved after him, and got scolded by Gary for "befriending the enemy".

"So?" Leaf asked Ash impatiently.

"What did you see?" Drew wondered, noting his friend's stunned face.

"They've got... _glitter-glue_!" Ash reported breathlessly.

"_Glitter-glue_?" Drew repeated in awe.

"Where did they get that?" Leaf asked, clearly surprised. With glitter-glue, the others had a huge advantage over them.

"Gary probably got it from his house, duh." Paul pointed out the obvious.

"Their poster looks amazing!" Ash said worriedly. "There are a lot of different colours, and it looks like Dawn might have done the glitter stuff, cuz it's all very neat and not too much."

Leaf's face scrunched up as she tried to think of a plan. She didn't have any glitter in her house, because her mother insisted it would only end up making a mess. The only craft things she had managed to find were pieces of felt, which she and her group had cut up into leaf-shapes and pasted onto the trees of their poster. They needed something more. Something that would really boost the 'amazing-ness' of their work.

"Do you have any stickers? You know, like grass type Pokemon, or plants, or forest stuff? We could use those." Drew suggested.

"Yeah!" Leaf agreed enthusiastically. "I have some Bulbasaur stickers, and some flower ones too. Those will look nice!"

"And we could use beads or something to make a design on the edges of the poster, or beside the labels." Ash gave his idea.

"Yeah, that's a very creative idea, Ash!" Leaf got up. "I'll be right back!"

The other group, the one with May, Dawn, Gary and Misty, saw Leaf get up and leave, and then come back a while later with a small bag, which was most likely filled with more supplies.

"What do you think they're doing?" Dawn pondered.

"Do you think they saw our poster and went to get some glitter for themselves?" May asked.

"Ugh, we fell for their trick!" Misty suddenly realized. "They probably didn't even need a green pencil crayon. Ash was probably just trying to see what we did!"

"They're a bunch of copy-Meowths!" Gary scowled.

"But what if they aren't using glitter like us?" Dawn pointed out reasonably. "What if they got a different, better idea?"

"There's no way we can know for sure." said Misty. "Unless... we do what they did!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" May questioned curiously.

"We should go see exactly what they're up to." Misty explained. "One of us has to go and peek at their work."

"Like a top secret spy?" Gary was interested. But before he could say anything else, there was an excited squeal.

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" May volunteered, an adventurous look in her eye. She joined her index fingers with the opposite hands' thumbs to make a rectangle and looked through it as if it were a camera.

"May's Expeditions are a-go!" she announced.

"Sssh!" Dawn hushed frantically. "They'll hear you!"

May winked before heading over to the others. She crept up behind them quietly, trying to peek over their heads. They were so absorbed with whatever they were doing, that they didn't notice her presence, until she stumbled when she accidentally stepped on the chess board that was still lying there.

"What are you doing here, April?" Drew interrogated as he faced her. The others tensed and did their best to hide their work from view.

"Oh, nothing." May's innocent smile was unconvincing. "Just, you know, minding my own business..."

"It doesn't look like that to me." Paul spoke up. "Why are you 'minding your own business' all the way over here?"

"Well, you see..." May hesitated. "I thought I forgot something here, but I was trying to be careful not to bother you guys, or else you might think I'm spying."

Ash relaxed, but the others appeared unconvinced.

"What did you lose?" Leaf sharply demanded.

"My pencil." May blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. _Nice going, May. _she thought to herself._ Now they'll know I'm lying, since Ash already used the 'I need a pencil' excuse._

"Your pencil?" Leaf sounded unbelieving.

"Yeah. It's red, so could you check if it's somewhere around here?"

"There isn't any red pencil here, other than ours." Paul said coldly without even looking.

"Oh, really? That's too bad..." May tried to appear crest-fallen.

Ash looked sincerely sorry, while Drew, who was starting to fall for her act, began feeling a bit guilty. Leaf was starting to seem a bit unsure of whether to believe her bandana-wearing friend or not, though she still seemed more doubtful, but Paul hadn't been affected by her 'heart-breaking' story at all.

"Yeah, too bad. Now leave." Paul ordered unsympathetically.

"O-okay." May lowered her head so her bangs fell over her eyes. Drew, feeling increasingly guilty about making her unhappy, although he had nothing to do with her 'tragic lost pencil', peeled off a sticker of a rose from Leaf's sticker sheet.

"Here." he said, presenting his 'sad' friend with it. "You can have this, if you want."

May blinked. She hadn't been expecting that. "Thank you, Drew. It's such a pretty flower!"

"It's not for _you_, September." Drew said quickly, feeling he was being _too_ nice to his 'enemy'. "It's for... your pencil, once you've found it. It's red right? A rose sticker might look good on it."

"Oh." May frowned a bit as she took the gift. "And my name is May!

Paul rolled his eyes and turned to the girl. "Now go away."

As she left, Leaf glared at Drew. "I was gonna use that sticker for the poster!"

Meanwhile, May's group was awaiting her report.

"I didn't get to see their poster." May admitted. "But there were some beads lying around, and some bits of felt, and they have stickers too, cuz Drew gave me one."

"Wow, they have a lot of stuff..." Misty said.

"Do you know what we need? Gel pens!" Dawn said excitedly. "We can use it to make our title at the top stand out even more!"

"Good news." Gary stated, looking in the small bag he had brought the glitter-glue in. "There are gel pens in here. Daisy must have known we might need them."

"Okay everyone!" Misty punched her fist in the air. "Let's get to work!"

* * *

"Oops! I forgot!" Leaf giggled as she remembered something. The eight of them were having lunch at the table now. After a long time of working hard, they had completed their posters, but the problem was, both groups insisted that theirs was the best. Finally, they decided on having their teacher's opinion be the final word.

Leaf turned to Paul. "I didn't give you your king back. And you worked with us for way more than just one hour!"

"You mean this king?" Paul pulled out the piece from his pocket.

Leaf blinked. "How did you get that from me?" She just got a shrug as a response.

"Wait, so if you remembered about that, why did you continue working with us after the hour was over?"

"I forgot what strategy I was going to use on Gary."

"Oh."

"You would have lost anyways, so it's not like that would have made a difference." Gary bragged arrogantly.

"We'll see about that. Let's go continue our match right now." Paul challenged, standing up.

"You're on!" Gary stood up too.

"Um, actually..." May fidgeted with her fingers. "I might have maybe accidentally stepped on the board and messed up your game."

The two boys groaned and slumped back down on their chairs.

"Wow, October, you're such a klutz." Drew commented, smirking.

"No, I'm not!" May pouted. "And it's May!"

* * *

It was the day the poster was due. Colourful posters, presenting different Pokemon habitats, could be seen everywhere in the classroom, each done by a different group of students, but there were two particular posters that stood out.

The eight friends were divided into two groups, one that was made by Leaf, Ash, Paul and Drew, and the other by Gary, Dawn, May and Misty. Each proudly presented their poster to the teacher, Mr. Robertson, who was clearly impressed.

"Wow!" he marveled. "These are just amazing! So creative! How did you guys manage it?"

The poster made by Leaf's group was forest-themed. It showed a small clearing surrounded by trees, and Pokemon, plants, and many different berries could be seen in either the clearing, or the surrounding shrubbery, which had been sketched artistically and in detail by Drew. The trees had some felt leaves, and beads and stickers created a wonderful-looking border for the whole poster.

Gary's group's poster was water-themed. It showed the ocean, with a small island in the middle. Many different water type Pokemon could be seen either swimming in the water or resting on the island. Glitter-glue had been used to outline the ocean waves, and gel pens to decorate the title and outline some of the Pokemon. Artificial sea shells had been glued on to decorate the island and the corners of the poster (the sea shells had been added on Sunday night by Gary with the help of Daisy. His team members were thrilled at the addition, while the other group thought it was unfair).

"Which one do you like better?" Leaf asked, trying to sound casual.

"Well, really, I can't decide. They're both excellent!"

Both groups were unsatisfied.

"If you could only choose one, which one would you choose?" Gary made an attempt to get Mr. Robertson to reveal his favourite.

"Only one? Well, I don't think I will be able to pick between these two..."

"Can you try?" Leaf pleaded.

"I'm sorry guys, but both of these are great. I can't spend all day trying to decide; I have a class to teach!" With that, the eight were sent back to their desks.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Misty pondered aloud at recess. If the teacher wouldn't tell them which one was the best, how would they know who the winner was?

"We can call it a draw." May proposed, as, honesty, she really liked both posters.

"A draw?" Ash considered the idea.

"No way!" Leaf declined. "There has to be a winner!"

"Yeah!" Gary chimed in. "And it's me!"

"No way! Ours was _way_ better!"

"Nuh uh!"

"We could all be winners." Dawn tried to break it up.

"That's like the same as a draw!" Gary pointed out.

"Why don't you guys try to be the best at something else?" Drew suggested wisely.

"Like what?" Leaf asked.

"Like annoying Paul!" Gary joked. "I can annoy him the best!"

"I can _hurt_ you the best." Paul threatened, making Gary step back, his grin faltering.

"I was kidding..."

"Why do you guys even want to be the best? I mean, it was fun just making the posters." May reasoned.

"Yeah, we should do it again some time." Ash said.

"That's it!" Leaf exclaimed. "We can make more posters, and then we can see who has the best out of _those_!"

"It's gonna be mine for sure! But at my house, this time." Gary quickly said.

As Leaf and Gary discussed the continuation of the poster-war, the other six shook their heads. When was this going to end?

* * *

**Whew! Hope you guys enjoyed that, because I certainly enjoyed writing it!**

**A reminder: in case you guys didn't see my author's note from last chapter, there is a poll on my profile, so be sure to check that out! I'm planning to close it in maybe about two weeks. One thing though. I realized that readers without profiles can't vote on polls, but then a guest reviewer gave me their 'vote' as a review. So you can do that if you don't have a profile (you can call yourself a guest or guest voter if you want to make it anonymous).  
**

**Also, school is going to start soon, which is going to cut my writing-time by a lot! Just thought I'd warn you. However, whenever I get a suggestion in a review/PM, I get inspired and really motivated to start writing, and sometimes manage to quickly write out a whole chapter (usually in about two to three days, though it might take longer depending on how much free time I have). So suggestions might be what I need sometimes.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	18. The Lab

**Hello, wonderful readers! **

**Wow, I got so many suggestions this time! Thanks everyone, you guys are great! I love updating for you guys, so how about instead of an update schedule, I just update whenever I want? Besides, school is going to really limit my writing-time, meaning I'm going to try to update as much as I can before then.  
**

**Here is today's topic, as suggested by _jg13145_. Happy reading!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any shape, way or size!**

* * *

**The Lab  
**

**Kindergarten **

**May (5), Drew (6), Gary (6), Paul (6)**

Everyone was chattering non-stop on the bus. May's kindergarten class was having a field trip, and everyone was excited. They were all going to Professor Oak's lab, where they were going to meet real-life Pokemon researchers, and even some Pokemon too! Of course, pretty much everyone on the bus had already had some kind of interaction with a Pokemon before, but nonetheless, it was still something to look forward to.

"We're going to _my grandpa's_ lab!" Gary reminded everyone loudly. "I go there all the time, so I know everything about it!" Naturally, most of the kids had gotten tired of hearing his boasts, and were trying to ignore him.

"Are there lots of Pokemon there?" May asked, sounding a bit anxious for some reason.

Gary, oblivious to the fact that May was sounding a bit worried, nodded his head enthusiastically. "Yeah! Lots and lots!"

"We're here!" their teacher, Ms. Kelly, announced when the bus stopped in front of a large hill. She, and a couple of parent volunteers, got all the students to arrange themselves in an orderly line as they headed up the stairs to the lab at the top of the hill.

"Why, hello there!" Professor Oak, who was waiting for them, greeted cheerily. "How nice of all of you to come!"

"It was very nice of you to invite us here, Professor Oak." Ms. Kelly said, smiling brightly.

"Hi, Grandpa!" Gary said loudly, hoping to get special attention.

"Hi Gary. Now, is everyone ready to come inside?" This was followed by a loud cheer. "Good! Now follow me."

They were all led into the lab. Many of the other workers, like the professor's assistants, were busy at work, organizing papers, getting from place to place, and carrying boxes around. Gary waved and greeted everyone he recognized to show off how much he knew everyone there to the other kids. As they walked, Drew noticed that May was sticking to the back of the line.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Did she accidentally hurt her foot and couldn't keep up with everyone else?

"Nothing!" May answered quickly. She tried to look as happy as she usually was.

"Why are you at the back?"

"I don't know..."

"Drew, May, please stay with the class." Ms. Kelly called out. The two were falling behind. When they reached the group, they found themselves facing four men. One of them was Professor Oak, but not even Gary seemed to recognize the other three.

"I would like all of you to meet some special friends of mine." Professor Oak gestured to the other three. "They are scientists as well, and they decided to join us for today. Say hello to Professor Elm, Professor Birch, and Professor Rowan."

"Hello, everyone." The man with brown hair and glasses scanned his audience. "I am Professor Elm, as Professor Oak here already mention. I specialize in research concerning Pokemon breeding. It's all very interesting, as Pokemon and Pokemon eggs are one of the great mysteries of the Pokemon world. You'll see that there are some Pokemon that know certain moves because of their parents, and that Pokemon eggs seem to hatch at different times. Some hatch quicker than others, while some take much longer! Now, in my latest research..."

"Ahem!" The scary-looking scientist with white hair and a bushy mustache cleared his throat loudly to put a stop to Elm's rambling.

"I guess I'll go next, then!" The large professor with brown hair stepped forward. "I'm Professor Birch, and I study Pokemon habitats. Pokemon live in many different environments, so I study what kind they prefer, how they live there, and why they choose that specific area. Remember, Pokemon of the same type do not always prefer living in the same area!"

"I guess I should introduce myself now." The elderly scientist, who had interrupted Elm earlier, spoke up when Birch was finished talking. "I am Professor Rowan, and I focus on Pokemon evolution. Pokemon can evolve into something completely different from their original form. Some can gain new typing when they evolve, and some only evolve when certain conditions are met. There is even evidence that there might be a different kind of evolution. Pokemon evolution is one of the greatest mysteries of the Pokemon world, and we are constantly discovering new things about it."

"What _I_ study," Professor Oak said, "is Pokemon and human interaction. We live in a world where there are many Pokemon, and I study how we live alongside them.

"Now, as some of you may already know, when you turn ten years old, you are allowed to pick one Pokemon partner. You can use this Pokemon to sometimes catch or battle other Pokemon, but it is mostly for protection.

"When you will reach grade five, you will start a subject called Pokemon Studies, which focuses entirely on Pokemon-related topics. In much higher grades, you can start taking Pokemon battling or coordinating classes. If you study hard, you can become a Pokemon trainer or coordinator, if you want to do one of those as a profession."

"What Pokemon do you get when you turn ten?" a little girl asked.

"Ah, I was getting to that! You usually get a choice out of three, and your options depend on where you live." Oak answered. "Would you like to meet the Pokemon?"

"YEAH!" the class chorused.

"Okay then! If I am the one presenting you with your starter, here are the options I'll give you!"

Professor Oak took out three pokeballs and let out the Pokemon in them. One was an orange lizard with a flame on its tail. The second one was on all four feet and had a big bulb on its back. The last one was a blue turtle with a hard shell.

"Say hello to Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle!"

"Squirtle's the one that becomes a Blas-toy!" Gary informed his friends knowledgeably.

"If you get a Pokemon from me, you get to choose from Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile." Professor Elm said as he let out three more Pokemon.

"From me, you can get either Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip!" Professor Birch revealed another three.

"And finally, Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup from me." Professor Rowan let out the final three.

The kindergarteners gathered around, all admiring the twelve Pokemon before them.

"Do you have to pick your starter from only these ones?" Drew asked.

"Yes, of course Drew." Gary answered rolling his eyes, acting as if it were the most obvious thing the world. "I mean, what else would you pick?"

"Actually, no." Professor Oak corrected his grandson. "There are many other professors that give different starters. Or someone who turned ten might have received a different starter entirely, like if it were a gift, or a Pokemon he or she was already friends with."

"Whew, that's good!" Drew said, relieved. "Cuz I have a friend Budew that lives in my garden, and I already promised it that I would make it my partner."

"Hello there!" Professor Birch noted May, who was standing off to the side. "Don't you want to see the Pokemon?"

May nervously glanced over at the starters and shook her head. "No thank you."

"Why not?"

"She's scared of Pokemon." Paul, who was carefully observing the Turtwig, stated in a bored way.

"N-no I'm not!" May protested quickly, wondering how in the world Paul had found out. Truth was, she had entered an anti-Pokemon phase. A recent incident with some Tentacool had not helped either.

"There is no reason to be afraid!" Birch assured her. "Come on, I'll show you. These guys are really friendly!"

Holding her hand, he led her over to the Mudkip.

"This is Mudkip. Look at how cute it is!"

May crouched down to get a clear view of its face. It stared back curiously at her before smiling. "Mudkip!" May shyly smiled back. Maybe it wasn't too bad after all...

"See? Everything's fine! Now, Mudkip is a water type, so it can use moves like Water Gun attack..."

Mudkip, upon hearing its name in the same sentence as the name of a move looked startled for a second, before it let out a blast of water... right at May's face!

The poor girl jumped back, shrieking, and she ran as far as she could from it. "No! No!"

"W-wait!" Birch called out, holding the sides of his head with his hands. "That was an accident; it didn't mean it!"

"Grandpa," Gary turned to Professor Oak. "How does a small Squirtle become a huge Blas-toy?"

"That's what Professor Rowan is researching. Squirtle evolves into Wartortle, which later becomes Blastoise, all through hard training. But we are still not completely sure how or why that happens. Even with years of research, it still remains to be one of the greatest mysteries of all time."

Gary turned to Professor Rowan. He looked very old, maybe even older than his grandpa! Did he really study evolution for so long without finally understanding it?

Later, the professors led the students outside, where there were many different Pokemon of all shapes and sizes. They were only allowed to stay in certain areas, as some of the Pokemon weren't as friendly as others. May, however, absolutely refused to step outside, even in the safe zones, as she was convinced a big Pokemon would attack her.

Finally, after spending the day meeting new Pokemon, checking out the professor's lab, and learning many new facts, it was time to go. It seemed everyone had enjoyed themselves immensely, though some more than others (May only had fun when there weren't any Pokemon in the same room as her), and they were all reluctant to leave. But, alas, they couldn't stay there forever, and found themselves, once again, chattering non-stop on the bus on the way back.

* * *

**So the kindergarteners meet the starter Pokemon. **

**In the anime, May didn't like Pokemon when she first started out, which is why she doesn't really like them right now. I imagine she'll start liking them more as time passes. Gary also becomes a bit interested in Pokemon evolution (since in the anime, he decides to become a scientist focusing on evolution). And I got Professor Rowan to hint at mega evolution (when he said there might be a different kind of evolution). I thought since the sixth generation is currently in progress, why not?**

**Thanks again for the suggestions! One thing I noticed was that two of them were concerning the fact that ten-year-olds go on their journey. The thing is, that in this AU, they actually _don't_ go on their journey when they turn ten (they're too young!), but instead after they finish special Pokemon-related courses in school. Kind of like how Oak explained it in this chapter. I considered changing it so they _do_ go on their journey when they turn ten, but then realized it's too late, because I already mentioned the higher grades, and that some people, who should have been trainers by now (Reggie, Solidad, etc), are still in school. But they still get a Pokemon partner at age ten, so I can still pull off the suggestions I got. Thanks again!**

**A reminder for the poll, and please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	19. Diving Board

**Hello, everyone! Time for another chapter!**

**Today's topic was a suggestion by a guest reviewer. Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Diving Board  
**

**(Summer before) Grade Three  
**

**May (8), Drew (8), Misty (8), Ash (8), Gary (8), Leaf (8), Paul (8)**

School had not started yet, and it was a hot summer day, so Drew found it to be the perfect opportunity to have a small swimming pool party. At his mansion, he had a huge swimming pool, which was the perfect place to spend the hot afternoon, and so he invited his best friends May, Gary, Paul, Ash, Leaf, and Misty.

Misty, of course, was thrilled at being invited, as she loved the water, and often entered swimming competitions. She and everyone else accepted, and all arrived at his mansion on the planned day.

"Whoa!" Gary, who had come to the pool after changing into his swim-suit, took in the sight. The pool was huge, with two diving boards, a high one and a low one, and a water slide.

"You like it?" Drew, who had already changed into his shorts, was lying on one of the chairs that were on one side of the pool.

"Awesome!" Gary looked around, smirking. "Since the others aren't done changing yet, looks like I get the first jump in the pool!'

The spiky-haired boy stood at the edge, stretching, and positioning himself so that he could jump in perfectly. Unfortunately for him, Paul chose that exact moment to show up, and pushed him in with one hand as he passed by behind him.

"_Paul_!" Gary whined, gasping as his head emerged from under the water. "You ruined my perfect jump!"

Paul just shrugged and laid himself down on the chair next to Drew.

"Amazing!" Misty arrived and gaped at the magnificent pool. "Wow, Drew, it's way bigger than my pool at home!"

"Of course it is! He _does_ live in a mansion after all." Leaf appeared at Misty's side.

"Wow! We should come here every summer day!" May marveled as she arrived as well.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ash had showed up. "Cannonball!"

The black-haired boy got a running start and launched himself into the water, creating a huge splash.

"Hey, watch it!" Paul warned, as some of the water landed on him.

"Oh, come on, Paul! It's a pool party; you're supposed to get wet!" Ash pointed out.

"Only if you actually go in the pool." Paul shot back. "Now don't bother me." He lay back down, with his arm over his eyes, possibly to take a nap.

"Come on, everyone! Jump in!"

May slowly slipped into the water, while Leaf followed Ash's example and created a huge splash, making sure she got plenty of water on Gary's and Ash's heads. Misty, however, eyed the diving boards.

"I'm gonna dive in!" she announced. "I really want to try that high one!"

"There's no way you can do it." Gary scoffed. "You're going to get scared going up that high. Just spare yourself the embarrassment and do the low one."

Misty's eyes sparked. "Yes, I can!"

"No, I don't think so."

"Wanna bet?"

"Sure! If you don't Pidgey-out, I'll, um, I'll do it too!"

"Fine!"

"But if you _do_ get scared, then when school starts, you have to go to the front of the classroom, and yell, 'Gary Oak is the best, smartest guy in the whole world!'."

"WHAT?!"

"What's the matter? You don't think you can do it?"

"Of course I can!"

"So, you accept?"

"Yes! In fact, I'll go dive in right now!"

"I'll be watching!"

"You do that!"

Misty stomped to the ladder of the high diving board. She had never dived in from this height before, and as she climbed higher and higher, a near-inaudible voice in her head questioned whether she really _could_ manage to do it. After all, not even the diving board for the pool at her house, which was actually pretty high, was _this_ high. But she, being stubborn, wasn't about to back down now, and on she went, heading for the top, not showing any hesitation.

Everyone seemed to be watching now, wondering how all this would turn out. Drew was sitting up, eager to see the end result, while Ash was cheering Misty on, clearly thinking she would win the bet. May observed anxiously, worried about how Misty would accomplish such a challenge, opposite of how Leaf felt, as she appeared to have full confidence in her friend. Even Paul seemed mildly interested, as his arm had traveled from his eyes to the top of his head so that he could watch the show too.

Gary smirked. "She's just being stubborn. She's gonna choke at the last second."

"Don't be too sure!" Leaf pointed at Misty, who was now standing at the tip of the diving board. "You're gonna get creamed for that bet, Gary. I'm going to love seeing _you_ freeze up when _you_ have to jump from that thing."

"There's no way she can do it." Gary was adamant in his belief, although a teeny tiny part of him wondered if Leaf was right.

Misty stretched her arms and bounced up and down a bit. It didn't seem too bad; she was sure she could handle it. But all that peer pressure from her friends watching made her feel something she would never admit to feeling: nervous. May looked like she was about to freak out, Ash was cheering her on wildly, Drew wasn't about to miss a single moment of what could be either be a great victory or a disastrous fail, Paul was spectating in an amused way, Leaf was convinced Gary would lose the bet, and Gary...

Gary. He had that 'I knew it' look on his face. He thought she hadn't jumped yet because she was too scared! Just that made Misty's blood boil. She'll show him! Water was her specialty, and there was no way he would humiliate her about something concerning what she was good at.

Misty positioned herself to dive. Taking a deep breath, she imagined herself as the expert swimming athlete she had yet to be, and leaped.

That short time in the air made her feel like she was flying, and once she hit the water, she welcomed the feeling. It was wonderful, and, she decided, really, _really_ enjoyable. She wanted to do it again.

As her head came up for air, a cheer erupted, mostly from Ash, Leaf, and May. Gary gaped at her, unbelieving at what he had just witnessed. She smirked at him, triumphant, ready to rub her victory in his face.

"Ha! So what did you think about that, Gary! Still think I'm a scaredy-Meowth?" she bragged as she swam to him. "You think you can pull it off, too? Or are you gonna Pidgey-out?"

"Of course I can do it!" Gary insisted, snapping out of his shocked state. "I can probably do it even better than you!"

"Then prove it."

"Yeah, Gary!" Leaf pointed to the diving board. "You lost the bet to the swimming champion, so now I get to see you freak out!"

"You're going to be disappointed, cuz I am gonna jump with no problem!" Gary declared, although he was eying the board with the tiniest hint of worry in his eyes.

"You don't have to do it if you're too afraid." Misty continued her taunts, aiming to bruise his pride and ego. "We can just call it off if you _really_ don't think you can do it."

"You're going to be eating those words, Misty!" Gary climbed out of the pool and began heading for the ladder. He was going to protect his dignity at all costs!

"You have a camera?" Leaf asked Paul.

"Sadly, no." Paul replied, not taking his eyes off the egotistical brunet.

"I can ask my butler to get one." Drew offered. "You want me to?"

"Definitely."

"Please do."

"Look! He's at the top now!" Ash pointed to the diving board. Gary had finally reached the top, and was slowly making his way to the tip. May had gone back to being nervous, Leaf, Paul and Drew were handling the camera Drew's butler had brought, Ash was looking eager to see another great jump, and Misty was staring up at him smugly.

Gary tried to focus. If only Ash would just stop shouting, and Leaf would stop flashing that camera (wait, where did they get that camera?!), and Paul would stop giving him that you're-gonna-fail look, and May would stop looking like she thought he was going to hurt himself, and Drew would quit watching him so intently as if he were some circus performer, and Misty would wipe that arrogant smirk from her face, then _maybe_ he would be able to concentrate. He wasn't asking for much!

_Don't look down. _he chanted in his head._ Just don't look down, and pretend you're just going to jump in the pool._

It helped, and Gary managed to convince himself that he was just doing what he always did. In fact, it worked so well, that he forgot to expect that he would not immediately hit the water. So, when he did jump, he found himself in mid-air, and panicked, ruining his position, and hitting the water in an unpleasant way.

This was humiliating! Gary, who was now underwater, knew he must have looked very silly falling the way he did. He really didn't want to go up to the surface and face the others. They would probably make fun of him, and he didn't think he could stand having his pride crushed even more.

Suddenly, a mischievous thought occurred to him. What if... he _didn't_ resurface? What would their reaction be? They would probably forget all about his little mess up, and he would get to have some fun! So, forcing himself to hold his breath a while longer (which took a lot of effort), he waited.

His friends panicked when his head didn't reappear from the water.

"Gary!" Ash began swimming towards him as fast as he could.

"Hold on!" Leaf thrust the camera at Paul and jumped into the water after him.

May began screaming for help, and Drew quickly informed his butler, who was acting as a life guard right now, of the incident. But out of everyone, Misty had reacted the quickest, and had managed to reach Gary before anyone else. She pulled him to the surface and out of the pool, with some help from the others.

They all surrounded their friend, and Drew's butler quickly flipped through a first-aid book to make sure he knew exactly what to do in this situation.

"I-I'm sorry for making you do that!" Misty, near tears, apologized to the motionless boy. "I'm sorry! You were just... just such a great friend. A bit annoying, yes, but still... and this is all my fault!"

"Gary, you have to hold on!" Leaf cried. "Please!"

"Wake up, Gary!" Ash tried to rouse his friend. "Come on, buddy, you got to!"

"He-he was one of my best friends!" May sobbed freely. "And now..."

Drew stood solemnly to the side, his head bowed in seriousness. All he had wanted was to spend a wonderful swimming day with his friends. He had never wanted any of this. Gary...

A loud snort came from Gary. His friends jumped, startled. Gary?

Gary, unable to hold it back any longer, burst into laughter. The others around him stared at him in shock.

"You... were... FAKING?!" Misty screamed disbelievingly.

"Gary Oak! Don't you _ever_ do that again! It wasn't funny!" Leaf scolded, enraged and a bit embarrassed that she fell for his trick.

"Y-yes it was!" Gary choked out, still laughing uncontrollably. "Your faces!"

"Not cool..." Drew glared at him coldly. This wasn't something you should joke about!

"You had us really worried! We thought you were _dead_!" Ash tried, but failed, to explain the seriousness of the situation.

Drew's butler shook his head and walked off, muttering something about children's sense of humour these days.

"Gary. Oak." Everyone turned to May, who was sounding very different from how she usually did. Her head was lowered, so her bangs covered her eyes.

Suddenly, she looked up. Her expression was one of pure outrage, and she was looking deadly. Without warning, she tackled Gary into the pool with her, where, from the looks of it, she tried to attack Gary in any way possible.

"Wait what are you-!" Gary tried to protest, but kept finding his head being shoved underwater. "I was just jok-!"

"You meanie!" May screamed as she repeatedly attacked him. "I thought you were actually DEAD! You are one of my bestest friends in the world, and you made me think you were DEAD just to get a laugh! I'll show you!"

"You get him, May!" Leaf gave her encouragement. "Teach him a lesson!'

"You know what? I'm going in there too!" Misty leaped into the pool to assist the brunette.

Drew, Ash and Leaf looked at one another and nodded before joining them, and before he knew it, Gary was really regretting playing his little prank.

* * *

"Well, other than that small 'Gary incident', today was a lot of fun!" Misty commented as they had lunch. After spending hours in the water, the seven friends had finally had enough, and so they had changed and went to eat.

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "When are you going to have another swimming-party, Drew?"

"I don't know." Drew shrugged. "But it was all pretty great! Maybe soon."

"Yay!" May, who had returned to her usual self, cheered. "We can get together next week! Or maybe tomorrow! Or maybe every day!"

"I don't think every day would work, June."

"It's May!"

"I'm definitely going to remember this day." Leaf said.

"Me too." Paul smirked as he pulled out Drew's camera from his pocket. "Especially with all the pictures I took!"

"Oh, so that's where the camera went." Drew reached for the camera, and Paul handed it to him.

"What pictures did you take?" Leaf asked curiously.

Paul shrugged. "From where you left off. You caught Gary's hilarious diving-fail, and I took pictures of everything after that. So, that whole drowning act, and Gary getting beat up by May."

Gary scowled. "I was _not_ getting beat up! May just caught me off guard!"

"Uh huh."

"Really!"

"Um, Paul?" May caught his attention. "When we all thought Gary drowned, why were you taking pictures instead of being worried?"

"He didn't look dead to me. Besides, he was getting enough attention."

"Wait!" Gary turned to him angrily. "So, you didn't bother trying to help because you just had a_ feeling_ I was okay?!"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Some friend you are!"

"Hey Drew? Can you send us copies of the pictures?" Ash asked.

"Good idea!" Leaf exclaimed. "The Gary mess-up dive one is a keeper!"

"_Leafy_!" Gary whined.

"Sure!" Drew nodded his head.

It really had been a water-ful day.

* * *

**And done! This makes a pretty nice summer-related chapter.**

**Wow! This fanfic has now reached over 50 reviews, 20 favs, and 28 follows! I want to give a special thanks to everyone who's been reading this for all their support. You guys are all great!**

**Last chapter I said that I'm going to forget the update schedule and post whenever I want. But I realized that that might not be such a good idea after all, because then it would become hard for readers to predict the next update. So back to the update schedule! Like before, I'll update once a week during the weekend. And maybe during the week sometimes, depending on how much I write. So next update will be during the weekend!  
**

**A reminder to the poll, and please review and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	20. I Dare You

**Hello everyone!**

**Wow, I got a lot of suggestions from you guys! This chapter wasn't a suggestion, but enjoy it while I work on the topics I got.**

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**I Dare You**

**Grade One  
**

**May (6), Paul (6), Gary (6), Ash (6), Drew (6)**

It was a chilly November day, and everyone was outside for recess. Gary and Paul, instead of being at the playground like all the other grade one students, were standing close to the roadside, with only the sidewalk separating them from the road.

This was not where they usually hung out. Gary had just seen a cool car that he wanted to check out. His other friends, May, Drew and Ash, were reluctant to come along, as they were not allowed to leave the area. He did, however, manage to convince Paul, one of his bolder, braver friends, to join him.

After admiring the parked car for a while, they had gotten bored. There was nothing else to do there, and there weren't many other cars passing by.

"I'm bored." Paul stated, leaning against a lamppost.

"I don't wanna go back to everyone else." Gary said, sitting on the ground. "They'll just think we got scared and came back." It was either that they go back and be called scaredy-Meowths, or they stay bored for the rest of recess. The two boys, having a great amount of pride, chose the latter.

"Gary," Paul spoke up, suddenly thinking up a way to pass the time, "I dare you to lick this lamp." He pointed at the lamp post he was leaning on before.

Gary hesitated before answering. "No."

"You're too scared." Paul accused.

"No I'm not! Why would I be scared to lick something?"

"Because my brother said that a boy in his class got dared to lick it. He did, and his tongue got stuck forever!" Paul finished his story dramatically.

"No." Gary crossed his arms. "Daisy said that I'm not allowed to lick metal when it's cold, because a boy in her class did, and his tongue wouldn't come off. She said it hurt him a lot when he pulled it off."

Paul pondered on his brother's words for a second. "If the boy did lick the lamp, and his tongue got stuck forever, then why isn't he here? Reggie was probably just trying to scare me."

"I'm not gonna do it. Daisy said my tongue would get stuck, and Grandpa did too. And I'm not allowed." Gary's decision was final.

"Do you really think that would happen?" Paul wondered aloud. Truth was, Paul wasn't really sure if what Reggie had told him was true, and he wanted to see it for himself to believe it. But of course, he was not about to try it himself.

"Maybe..." Gary was a bit doubtful as well. He always believed his grandpa, but it somehow seemed absurd to him that his tongue would get stuck like that.

He suddenly spotted three people walking a short distance away from them: a girl wearing a red bandana, a boy with green hair, and another boy with black hair wearing a red cap.

"Hey, Ash! Ashy-boy!" Gary called out, an 'evil' idea popping into his head.

The black-haired boy, Ash, tensed. He and Gary didn't get along very often, and if Gary was calling him, then it probably was not for anything good. Nevertheless, he and the two friends with him, May and Drew, made their way over to the other two.

"Ash," Gary smirked when the three had come up to them. "I dare you to lick this lamp!" Paul began to look a bit interested.

"Eww!" May squealed, not knowing the danger. But Ash paled. He knew exactly what would happen.

"No." He folded his arms. Gary was surprised. It wasn't often that Ash was brave enough to say 'no' to him.

"I dared you, so you have to!" Gary pressed on.

"No." Ash replied firmly yet again. "My tongue would get stuck on it."

"Really?" Drew found this interesting.

"Yes." Ash confirmed. "One time, I licked a pole when it was winter, and my tongue got stuck. It really hurt when my mom took it off."

Gary was disappointed. If Ash already knew the consequences, then he, Gary, wouldn't get to see what Daisy had said would happen for himself.

"That sounds scary." May shivered. "Once my tongue got stuck on an ice cube, but it melted."

"Metal doesn't melt." Paul informed her, smirking as he scared her further. "If you lick it for a long time, your tongue will get stuck forever!" May gasped at the horrifying knowledge she had just gained.

"I don't believe it." Drew crossed his arms. He had never heard of such a thing, and thought it sounded ridiculous.

"Then I dare _you_ to lick it." Paul and Gary redirected their dare at the green-haired boy.

Drew hesitated. There was a small voice at the back of his head telling him that it was a bad idea, a _really_ bad idea, but he wanted to prove himself. It was time to show Paul and Gary that he was just as brave as them. He took a step forward.

"Don't do it!" May shrieked. She grabbed onto his arm to prevent him from going any further.

"Let go, May!" he urged.

"Hey, what are you kids doing all the way here?" The five froze as a teacher approached them. He was very scary-looking, and he taught the higher grades, so he was unfamiliar to them.

"You are not allowed to leave the playground area all alone, especially so close to the road." he scolded. "What were you doing here?"

The grade ones stayed silent, Ash, May and Drew being too terrified of the teacher, and Gary and Paul trying to figure out a way to get out of trouble. Eventually, Ash cracked under pressure.

"They were telling me and Drew to lick that lamp!" he blurted out, pointing at Paul and Gary. This led to him receiving a hard kick from Paul.

The teacher's expression became serious. "You boys can get in a lot of trouble for doing something like that." he directed his statement at the two boys.

"We weren't!" Gary protested quickly. "We were all just having fun, and then we dared them to lick it. We weren't actually making them do it."

The teacher looked doubtful of his words. "Is this true?" he asked the other three, who nodded in response. Ash knew Gary and Paul would let him have it if he said anything else. Drew didn't want to look like a tattletale, and May would never sell out her best friends.

The teacher seemed more convinced. "But you shouldn't try to do this kind of stuff, even if it is for fun. Did you know your tongue can get stuck if you lick metal when it is cold?"

"Really?" Gary feigned ignorance as he stared at the teacher with wide, innocent eyes that only a six-year-old could pull off.

Paul changed his expression to a serious one, appearing as if this piece of information was new to him, and he was now closely listening to the grown-up's words.

"Yes." the teacher confirmed. "It could cause some big problems if that were ever to happen. Now come with me back to the playground, and don't ever come out here again."

The five followed him, feeling relieved that they had escaped possible punishment. The only regret that Paul and Gary had was that they could have just dared Drew to lick it instead of Ash in the first place, which he would have done before the teacher arrived. Too bad they never got to see anyone fulfill the dare.

Drew suddenly realized something odd and turned to Ash. "Why were you licking a pole?"

* * *

**And there you have it! In case it wasn't clear, the question Drew asked Ash at the end was referring to what Ash said before (that he once licked a pole in winter).**

**Next update will be during the next weekend.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	21. Egg-cellent Responsibility Skills

**Hello, everyone! Here is another chapter!**

**School's started (my school starts a bit early, so it started this week), so my writing-time has been cut down, especially because my teachers insisted on getting us started with homework and projects. I like school, but I don't like the work-load preventing me from writing. I don't have that much homework yet, so I can still write, but I can't promise that updates will always be at their usual time. Don't worry, I'll still do my best to update once a week!**

**Now, let's get started!**

**Today's topic was suggested by _TheBestNameEvah._**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Egg-cellent Responsibility Skills**

**Grade Three  
**

**May (8), Drew (8), Gary (9), Paul (9), Ash (8), Misty (9), Leaf (8), Dawn (8)  
**

"Okay, class." Mrs. Primm, the grade three teacher, got everyone's attention. "Last week, I announced that we would be doing a special project starting today. Well, I'm about to tell you what that project is.

"As you all know, when someone turns ten years of age, he or she gets to keep a Pokemon partner, and is allowed to start carrying Pokemon with him or herself. But having a Pokemon means you have to be very responsible. Each Pokemon has its own needs, so you will have to take really good care of it.

"In grade three, in most schools, we do a small project to help students understand how responsible they have to be. Each of you will be assigned a Pokemon egg, which you will have to take care of for all of this week, including the weekend. Of course, they aren't real eggs, as I am pretty sure you can not be trusted with those just yet, but they are designed to resemble real eggs for effect. Each of you will get a different one, so I am pretty sure there won't be any mix-ups. Is everyone clear?"

Mrs. Primm glanced around the class to see if there was anyone looking hopelessly lost. She noticed when Dawn's hand shot in the air.

"Yes, Dawn?"

"Mrs. Primm, how would you know if we have really been taking care of the eggs? What if someone just left theirs and then told you that they took care of it?"

The teacher nodded. "The eggs have a special system inside of them, which can sense how it is being treated. If it falls, or wasn't warm enough, or was handled gently or roughly, it will record all that. In the end, it'll add up everything that's been happening to it, and will show you what the result would have been had it been a real egg."

There were a few groans from the more irresponsible students in the class. That meant they couldn't take the easy way out.

"I will call each of you to the front one by one, and assign you an egg from this box." She gestured to a large box sitting on the desk.

Soon, everyone had an egg. Mrs. Primm explained some of the basics of taking care of Pokemon eggs to the class before dismissing them when the bell rang. During recess, May got together with her friends Dawn, Misty, Ash, Gary, Drew and Paul.

"Oooo!" She looked at all her friends' eggs. "What do you think will hatch from your eggs?"

"Nothing. It's not real." Paul stated bluntly.

May frowned. "No, I meant _if_ it were real, what Pokemon egg do you think it will be? They are made to look like they're real."

"I think mine's gonna be very cute!" Dawn looked adoringly at her pink egg that had a white stripe around the middle.

"I don't know." Ash shrugged, observing his egg that had brown and dark brown stripes. "I bet it's gonna be cool though!"

"Not as cool as mine!" Gary held up his orange egg that had a light, crescent shape on it.

"I hope mine's a water type." Misty looked over her light green egg, which had dark green markings on it.

May shook her head. "I don't think so, Misty. A water type Pokemon's egg would be blue."

"That's not true." Misty argued. "Water Pokemon can be many different colours."

"It could be a grass type." Drew reasoned. "I mean, most grass types are green, so maybe that's more likely."

"What about you, Drew?" Dawn asked. "What Pokemon do you think your egg's going to hatch into?"

Drew looked at his brown egg, which had three green circles at one end, thoughtfully. "I'm not sure..." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter, though. I'm still going to have to take care of it. What about yours, September?"

"Delcatty!" May announced, holding her purple egg, that had a yellow marking on it, lovingly. "And my name is May!"

"It can't be a Delcatty." Gary said, rolling his eyes. "That's an evolved Pokemon."

"Oh." May wondered for a bit before shrugging. "I don't know, then."

"What about you Paul?" Ash asked, turning to his purple-haired friend. "Where is you egg, anyways?" The teal-coloured egg that had been assigned to him was nowhere to be seen.

"In my backpack." Paul's answer was straight-forward.

May's eyes widened in horror. "In your backpack?! It could die in there!"

"No it can't." Paul sounded annoyed. "It's _not_ real."

"But still." Drew faced him seriously. "If it gets damaged or something, Mrs. Primm isn't going to be very happy."

"Yeah!" Dawn chimed in. "You have to take care of your egg better, and give it a lot of attention! It's not going to hatch if you treat it like that."

"It's not going to hatch at all, cuz it's _not real_!"

"Yeah, yeah, Paul's gonna fail; so what?" Gary smirked. "I'm going to get the best marks, cuz when my egg hatches, my Pokemon's gonna be the best of all!"

"No way, mine is! Right, Brownie?" Ash stared determinedly at his egg, as if expecting to get an answer back.

"Brownie?" Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? I don't know what Pokemon this is gonna be, so maybe I can give it a name for now." Ash justified.

"Great idea!" Dawn squealed delightedly. She turned to her egg. "Hi, Blossom! How are ya?"

"And I'm going to call mine Noodle!" May announced. Everyone stared at her.

"Why 'Noodle'?" Misty asked.

"I don't know. I just really like my egg, and I really like noodles too. So Noodle it is!" It sounded logical.

"That's a pretty good name." Ash commented.

"Not as good as my egg's name!" Gary thought for a second. "Thunder! Its name is Thunder!"

Misty shrugged. Everyone was naming their egg. Even though it was all pretty ridiculous, she might as well too. "Mine will be... Splash."

"Come on, Drew! Tell us your egg's name!" May urged. "Wait, I know! Drew The Second! It has hair like you and everything!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

May pointed at the three green circles at the top of his egg. "See? Green hair."

"Oh." Drew tilted his head. "Actually, I don't think I want to name my egg. I don't even know what Pokemon it is."

"What?! But you have to!" May was shocked. "I'll name it for you! If you don't like Drew The Second, we can call it Circley!"

"Why don't I just call it Spot?" Drew suggested, not really liking either names.

"Okay, but it sounds kind of boring..."

As everyone talked to their eggs, and did their best to make them feel loved, Paul stared at them exasperatedly.

"What's wrong with everyone? _They're not real_!"

* * *

The week went by quickly. Mrs. Primm gave them class time to take care of their eggs and ask questions, but they were mostly expected to take care of them at home. Eventually, Saturday arrived, and the seven friends found themselves hanging out at Gary's house, with Leaf, Gary's next-door neighbour, there as well.

"You're doing the egg thing too?" Dawn noticed the pink and dark blue egg Leaf was holding.

"Of course I am! All the grade threes have to do it, no matter what school they go to."

"So, did you guys find out what your Pokemon are?" May asked.

"Blossom's a Happiny." Dawn said, holding up her egg, which she had brought with her. "My mom looked it up for me. I saw a picture of it, and it's so cute!"

Dawn was definitely giving her egg enough attention. Apparently, she had pasted small, fake dark and light pink jewels all over it in decorative patterns. Not to mention she got it its own blanket and case for when she didn't have it with her.

"My dad said Noodle's an Aipom." May showed her her egg, which was currently wearing a red bandana like May's.

"One of my tutors said that if my egg were to hatch, it would be a Bonsly." Drew's egg was in a special case like real eggs were put in. It was evident he was taking really good care of it.

"Professor Oak told us what our eggs are." Ash said. "Mine's Sentret, Gary's Teddiursa, Leaf's Mime Jr., and Misty's-"

"A BUG!" Misty yelled out. "Mine's a bug! How does Mrs. Primm expect me to treat a BUG with love and affection?!"

Drew confusedly turned to Ash. "What?"

Ash sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It's a Spinarak." he explained.

"Splash the Spinarak. Has a nice ring to it." Leaf commented.

Gary, who was currently absorbed in a chess game with Paul (as usual) while he half-listened to his friends' conversation, snickered. "Misty won't even touch her egg now. She gets Ash to take care of it." he muttered, trying to decide what move to make.

"And Ash actually _does_ the work for her? Pretty dumb of him. He's just doing twice the work." Paul said, not moving his eyes from the chess board.

"Where are your eggs, anyways?" May asked the two boys curiously.

Without turning his head, Gary used one hand to point to the sofa, where his egg was resting on a cushion, wearing... sunglasses?

"It's just hanging out." Gary explained.

"What about yours, Paul?"

"It's in my closet in a box." Paul mumbled, too focused on his game to look up. "By the way, Gary, it's check."

May, Dawn, and Ash stared at him in horror.

"What?! In your closet, all alone! Are you crazy?! It could freeze to death!" Dawn cried frantically.

Paul finally looked up, clearly annoyed.

"Okay, first of all, it can't _die_. It's not real. Second of all, it doesn't matter whether it's all alone or not, because, again, _it's not real_!"

"But still. You can get a bad mark if you don't take care of it properly." Drew reasoned. "If it gets too cold or something, the sensors inside it will record that, and the teacher won't be too happy."

"Yeah yeah, taken care of." Paul rolled his eyes. "I made sure the temperature is okay and all. I don't want to fail, although I think this whole project is dumb."

"But... why put it in your closet?" Ash asked. "You're supposed to treat it as if it were real. Would you close it up like that it it were real?"

"Wouldn't put it past him." Gary muttered.

"Oh, I get it!" Leaf giggled. "Paul's egg was being naughty, so it's in a punishment right now. It's part of its disciplining!"

Everyone stared at her for a second before shrugging, and letting it side.

"Ha! Checkmate!" Gary shouted victoriously as he moved one of his pieces into position.

"What?" Paul's attention was drawn back to the chess board and he quickly scanned it over. Scowling, he turned to face his opponent. "Rematch."

"Nah." Gary lay back, with his hands behind his head. "Later. Everyone's talking is too distracting."

"Fine." Paul would have preferred a rematch now, but he agreed with his friend about the distractions.

"Hey Paul," Dawn spoke up suddenly. "I was just wondering what Pokemon your egg is. You never told us."

"According to my brother, Munchlax." the purple-head drawled as he lay back, mimicking Gary.

"Poor Munchlax..." May said a bit sadly, thinking about the fact that it was all alone in a closet.

* * *

It was Sunday, which meant that the next day the egg-project would be over, and May would have to part with her beloved Noodle. She made up her mind that she was going to spend every free minute with her egg, and have as much fun as she could with it.

"May, what are you doing?" her little brother, Max, who was holding a large book in his hands, asked as he peeked into her room.

"Playing with Noodle." May explained, gesturing to her bandana-wearing egg.

"Who's Noodle?"

"Silly Max! Don't you remember? I already told you; it's my egg!"

"Oh ya. The egg your teacher gave you that you have to take care of."

"Yup!"

Max frowned. "It doesn't look very happy to me. It's looks very bored, cuz it's just sitting there, doing nothing. Why don't you teach it something? Maybe it wants to learn something new."

"I did! I told it all about myself."

Max was about to say something else, but May's mother began calling her. May left her room to quickly answer to her mother's calls.

Max turned to the egg lying on his sister's bed, a thought entering his five-year-old brain.

"Noodle, I'm back!" May announced when she returned a few minutes later. She paused and looked around, realizing her precious egg was not where she had left it.

"Noodle?" She searched everywhere. It wasn't on the floor, under her bed, in her closet, or anywhere else in her room.

"Noodle, where are you?" May cried desperately. "Hide and seek is over; I give up! Noodle!"

Not being able to locate her missing belonging, May sat down on the floor to think. Where could it have gone? It was here just a short while ago!

Horrifying thoughts began entering her mind. What if it were hurt? What if it were kidnapped, or lost and cold? All because she hadn't been responsible enough. Her poor little dear, suffering because of her own irresponsibility. She didn't care that she might fail the project; she wanted her Noodle!

May sadly stood up, her eyes trained on the floor in her sorrow. It was then that she noticed something. There was a large book lying on the ground. It certainly hadn't been there before. How had it gotten there?

May picked it up, and immediately realized who it belonged to. And if he had been in her room, then chances were, he might have been the one who had stolen her egg.

"Max!" May roared as she barged into his room. Max looked up, startled. His sister faced him angrily.

"Where is it?"

"What?"

"Noodle! Where. Is. NOODLE!"

Max's eyes dropped guiltily to his feet, but he didn't respond. May furiously scanned the room, and eventually, her eyes caught sight or a certain bandana-wearing egg.

"Noodle!" May joyously ran to it, picking it up to give it a big hug. "Don't you ever leave without telling me again!" she scolded. "And Max! Why did you take Noodle?"

"I just wanted to show it something." Max mumbled. "I wanna have an egg too."

May's expression softened. "Don't worry! You'll get your chance when you get to grade three."

"Okay..."

May, not liking seeing her little brother so sad, turned to her egg. "Noodle, do you want to play with Uncle Max for a bit?"

Max looked up eagerly. "What did it say?"

May nodded. "Noodle said yes."

Her little brother beamed.

* * *

Monday came too fast. May found herself seated in her desk, Noodle in her arms, watching Mrs. Primm, who was making some adjustments to a strange machine that was on her desk.

"Okay, class." she said finally. "Today I am going to use this machine to see how you've been taking care of your eggs." She gestured to the machine she had been preparing. It had a screen and a scanner attached to it.

She sat down in her desk and looked at a list, starting to call everyone up one by one.

"Dawn Berlitz." Dawn made her way to the front, proudly carrying Blossom. She handed it to her teacher and watched curiously as Mrs. Primm scanned her egg. A small click was heard, as if the scanner had unlocked something. What happened next resulted in Dawn letting out a small, horrified scream.

Mrs. Primm opened the egg up, making it appear as if it had been cut in half. She poked around the mechanical insides until her fingers caught a tiny chip, which she plugged into the machine on her desk.

"Hmmm." Mrs. Primm scanned the data on the screen. "From the looks of it, you have been taking really good care of your egg! You have evidently met all of its needs and given it plenty of care and attention!"

None of the compliments quite made it into Dawn's head. She was absolutely shocked at what had just happened to Blossom, whom she had treated as if it were real all week. She returned to her desk, still in her stunned state, when Mrs. Primm called up the next student.

May hugged Noodle closer to her. She did not want it to end up the same way Blossom had. And she hated to imagine how heartbroken Max would be if he found out what was little Noodle's fate. Apparently, most of her classmates seemed to be as reluctant to handing over their eggs as her.

"Drew Hayden." Drew solemnly stood up, his egg in hand, and made it to his teacher.

"Bye, Spot." he muttered so no one else could hear. He had grown somewhat attached to the egg during his time with it.

Mrs. Primm studied the screen. "Very good, Drew! It seems you have taken care of this egg the same way one would care for a real egg."

Drew grinned and flipped his hair at the praise. At least he did the job well.

Eventually, Ash got called up.

"Can I keep it?" he asked hesitantly.

Mrs. Primm shook her head. "No. These eggs will be reset and reused for another grade three class next year."

"So... it won't remember me at all?"

"If by 'remember' you mean it will no longer have data on how you cared for it, then yes, it will no longer... _remember_ you."

A frown appeared as she saw something on the screen. "Ash, I don't think it would want to remember you (as you put it) anyways. While you seemed to have taken decent care of it, there are some instances where, if it were real, you would have damaged it. At some points, it looks like you might have dropped it, or been slightly rough with it. And, what happened there? It looks like you dropped it several times in the same minute!"

"Well, it kind of accidentally slipped out of my grasp when I was going down the stairs." Ash explained, sounding ashamed. "It looks like it fell lots of times because it hit all the stairs on the way down." To his open egg, he quietly whispered, "Sorry, Brownie."

"Hmmm. You may have made a few mistakes here and there, but overall, generally it was well taken care of, so you pass. If it were real, however, you definitely wouldn't have! Please take a seat now."

May thought her turn came too soon. When Mrs. Primm called her name, she froze. She could not just hand over her dear Noodle to be opened up in half and have its memory erased.

"May Maple, please come up." her teacher repeated. May slowly got up from her chair and made it over to the teacher's desk.

"Egg, please." May hesitated at the request. She sadly faced the egg in her hands.

_Well, this is goodbye then, Noodle._ she thought, not being able to say it out loud. _I'll never forget you, even if you forget me._

"May. _Egg_." Soon, the egg found itself in Mrs. Primm's possession.

"Okay, May, it appears you have done really well. It does, however, seem like your egg might have been too warm sometimes, probably because it constantly had that bandana on. You may return to your seat."

"Okay." May said hollowly, obeying her teacher after stealing a last, quick glance at her beloved Noodle.

Not long after, it was Gary's turn. He tried to act like he didn't care about the whole thing, but he forfeited Thunder to the teacher somewhat reluctantly. He received a decent mark as well, although, apparently, he had handled his egg a bit roughly at times.

After a few more students, it was Paul's turn. Unlike the others, Paul stood up willingly, eager to finally see the demise of what had been nothing but a nuisance to him all week. He relished the moment his Munchlax egg was opened up, savouring the fact that he would now have to neither continue this ridiculous project, nor put up with his friends' babying their little eggs as if they were real.

"You have clearly been meeting all the needs of you egg, Paul, though you might have handled it just a tiny bit too roughly once or twice. However, it does not look like you gave it any extra, special attention. Please keep in mind that all Pokemon need plenty of attention, whether you're playing with them, praising them, or giving them treats. Of course, you couldn't do that with the eggs, but please try to keep this in mind."

Paul nodded respectfully before going back to his desk, not really caring about the attention-thing the teacher had just told him.

"He passed?" Gary mumbled disbelievingly. "How did he pass?"

After a while, Misty went up to the front, holding her egg cautiously, and looking nothing but relieved when Mrs. Primm took it from her possession. It became evident that something was wrong by the way Mrs. Primm was observing the data that occurred on the screen.

"Misty," the teacher finally addressed her student. "From what I see here, it looks like during the first few days, you were off to a good start. But then, later on, did you get tired or bored with your egg? Because you haven't given it much attention since the then."

Misty just bit her lip. Her negligence was actually because she had discovered Splash was a bug, and after that, she could not get herself to care for it as much. But she couldn't use that as an excuse, because after all, her teacher would just point out that the egg wasn't real. At least she got Ash to take care of its needs.

"What's more," Mrs. Primm continued. "There were some days where it looks like you didn't even touch your egg, or look to its needs at all."

"Wait, what?!" Misty peeked at the screen. Her teacher showed her the data, and sure enough, she was correct.

Mrs. Primm glanced at Misty curiously. "Are you saying you _did_ take care of it those days? Was there some kind of malfunction that prevented the egg from recording the data?"

"N-no. I just... forgot." Misty mumbled, half-honestly. This was so unfair! It had been _Ash_ who had forgotten to care for it, not her!

"Well, Misty, I'm afraid I can not give you high marks for this. But not to worry. This project actually barely counts on your report card, so you can make up for it easily."

"Okay, Mrs. Primm." Misty shot Ash a deadly glare as she walked back to her desk, making the latter cower.

* * *

"Well, that went okay." Drew shrugged. "It was actually a bit fun taking care of my egg."

The friends were all outside for recess, discussing the project.

"How could she do that to my poor Blossom?" Dawn whispered hoarsely.

"Bye bye, Noodle." May sniffed, turning back to face the school.

"Aw, come on, guys! It's not that bad!" Gary was starting to feel the two girls were overreacting. "They weren't real after all. Just think, they do this every year! They probably got used to it by now."

"Yeah, if anything, you should be happy." Paul chimed in. "You don't have to bother treating inanimate objects as if they were real anymore." That didn't really help.

"Ash Ketchum!" Misty snarled. "You are so gonna get it! You made me fail, and when I find you...!"

Ash was not with the rest of the group, because he had been sure he would pay for not caring for Misty's egg enough. So, once the bell had rung, he had darted out before she could get her hands on him.

"Wonder how Leafy did..." Gary pondered. "She was taking care of hers really well, but I probably took better care of mine..."

"Cheer up." Drew turned to Dawn and May. "At least now you know what it would be like to have your own real Pokemon. So you know how great it would be taking care of your starters when you get them at age ten. And you get to keep _them_ forever!"

May and Dawn turned to each other. "Yeah, that's right!"

"Can't wait! I wonder what my starter will be?"

And off they went, having fantasies about their future Pokemon.

* * *

**Yay! This was really fun to write about!**

**To be honest, I actually didn't expect to finish writing this by today. I thought I would have to update on Sunday instead. But somehow, I finished. It might have been because I had already written a lot of it last weekend. Okay, I should go get started on the next chapter now if I want to complete it by next Saturday!**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	22. At The Lab Again

**Hello again, everyone! It's update time!**

**A while ago, I did a chapter where May, Drew, Paul and Gary met starter Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab. I then got a suggestion saying I should do one where the rest of the main eight meet starters as well. So I found myself wondering how exactly I would make that happen, since I wanted them to be close to the same age, but Misty and Dawn didn't come until later. So I thought for a bit, and then I got it! So here is the next chapter! **

**Today's topic was suggested by _jg13145_.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**At The Lab Again**

**(Summer after) Kindergarten**

**Gary (6), Leaf (6), Ash (6), Misty (6), Dawn (6)  
**

A little blue-haired girl bounced up the steps leading to the laboratory at the top of the hill.

"Slow down, Dawn dear!" her mother called. "You don't want to fall."

"No need to worry, Mom!" Dawn said cheerfully. "I'm being careful!"

"That's when I worry the most..." The mother smiled at her daughter's eagerness.

They had been driving in the area when Dawn had caught site of the building at the top of the hill. She had curiously asked her mother what it was, and her mother had explained that it was the famous Professor Oak's lab. Dawn, wanting to see all the Pokemon there, had begged her mother to take her there, and that was where they were going now.

Once the two reached the door, the woman knocked and waited patiently. An elderly man answered the door.

"Why hello there!" he greeted, smiling widely. "What brings you here?"

"You must be Professor Oak! I'm Johanna, and this is my daughter, Dawn. She wanted to visit your lab, so I was wondering, if it isn't any trouble..."

"No, not at all! Come in, come in!" Professor Oak led them into his lab. "I love having visitors, and I wasn't busy right now, so I would gladly give you a tour!"

"Where are all the Pokemon?" Dawn looked around excitedly.

"You want to see the Pokemon? They're outside. I know! I'll call my grandson over to take you to them. He's about your age, and he's here with his friends right now."

Oak opened a door that led to the ranch behind his lab. "Gary! Can you come here for a moment?"

A boy with spiky hair, followed by a girl with bright, green eyes and brown hair, and a boy with black hair wearing a baseball cap, answered the man's calls.

"What is it, Grandpa?"

"This is Dawn." Oak introduced them to the blue-haired girl. "She wants to see the Pokemon outside. Can you, Ash, and Leaf show her around?"

"But Grandpaaaa!" Gary whined. "We're playing a game!"

"Can I play too?" Dawn asked, eager to make new friends.

"Yeah!" the boy named Ash cheered. "It's a lot more fun with more people!"

Gary scowled, but begrudgingly agreed. The four made their way outside.

"Wow!" Dawn ran to a tree, where some Pidgey were perched. "They're so cute!"

"They're Pidgey." Gary drawled knowledgeably. "Nothing big."

"And what are those?" Dawn noted some more Pokemon running in the distance.

"Tauros."

"And those?"

"Vulpix."

"And what about those?"

"Can we just play?" Gary said irritatedly, finding the girl to be nothing but a bother.

Dawn put her hands on the hips, frowning. "You don't have to be so rude!"

"Hey, I know!" Ash said enthusiastically. "Do you want to see the starter Pokemon?"

"You mean the ones you get when you turn ten?" Dawn turned to him interestedly.

"Yeah!" Ash gestured at her to follow him. "Come on!"

The two hurried off to the lakeside, where a Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle were playing.

"Hey!" Gary called after them, clearly annoyed. "I thought we were going to play!" When nobody answered, he folded his arms angrily. "Fine! I'll just play with Leafy then!"

He turned to face the green-eyed girl, only to find she was no longer standing beside him. Instead, she was up ahead, chasing after Ash and Dawn.

"Hurry up, Gary!" she called back to him. "Let's go say hi to the Pokemon!"

Grumbling, Gary felt he had no choice but to follow them.

"They're all so cute!" Dawn was saying, as she observed the three starters in front of her. "Hi, Squirtle!" She waved to the little water-type that was curiously looking up at her.

"I'm gonna pick Squirtle when I turn ten. It's the best out of all of them." Gary boasted.

"I wanna pick Bulbasaur!" Leaf announced, petting the grass-type on its head.

"Ooooo, it has a plant on its back!" Dawn observed. She turned to Ash. "So, what are you gonna pick? Charmander?"

"Maybe." Ash answered, shrugging. "I haven't decided yet. They're all so cool!"

While the four talked about their future starters outside, Professor Oak was having a nice chat with Johanna. He was interrupted suddenly when there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who could that be. My, I'm sure getting many visitors today, aren't I?" The scientist opened the door, and came face to face with four girls. The oldest one was a teenager, and so was the second one. The third looked like she was either a preteen, or in her early teens, and finally, the youngest one appeared to be about six.

"Hi." said the oldest one. "Like, I'm Daisy, and these are my sisters, Lily, Violet and Misty. We were, like, trying to get to a swimming competition, but then we're not from this area, so I kept getting all mixed up. So can you, like, give up directions or something please?"

"Of course! Please, come in! I'm sure I have a map here that I can show you."

Professor Oak led the girls inside. He took out a map and began showing the older girls the way they should go. The youngest one, Misty, started to get bored very quickly.

"Daisy, hurry up!" she whined, tugging on her sister's shirt.

"Yeah yeah, in a minute!" Daisy pointed at one of the roads on the map. "So, I should go from here?"

"No no! From _here_!"

"Wait, so, like, which way should I turn from here?"

"This way. And then follow this road here..."

"_Daisy_!" Misty pouted.

"Like, calm down, Misty." Lily scolded.

"Yeah, you, like, have to be patient!" Violet added.

"But-!"

"Misty, ssh! I'm trying to understand this, but I can't if your gonna, like, keep complaining every second." Daisy managed to quiet her sister.

Professor Oak, noticing the large scowl on the little girl's face, smiled. "I know! How about you go outside and see the Pokemon on my ranch while you wait. My grandson and his friends are outside as well, and they're about your age."

"Are there water Pokemon?"

"Yes, especially by the lake."

Misty faced her older sister eagerly. "Can I, Daisy? Can I?"

"Yeah yeah, just, like, let me concentrate." Daisy replied, barely paying attention.

Oak led her outside to the lake, where the other four were observing the Pokemon. "Gary!" he called. "We've got another visitor!"

"Another one?" Gary grumbled when he saw the orange-haired girl.

"Now play nice!" With that, his grandpa started to head back to his lab.

"Hi, what's your name?" Ash asked cheerfully.

"I'm Misty!" Misty introduced herself.

"I'm Leaf! That's Gary, and Ash, and, um..."

"Dawn!" the blue-haired girl reminded her.

"What are you guys doing?" Misty asked curiously.

"We're looking at the Pokemon!" Ash announced. "Look, I think I see something in the water!" He pointed to a spot in the lake.

"I see it too!" Misty saw what Ash was watching.

"That's a Poliwag." Gary informed them, sounding like a know-it-all.

Misty rolled her eyes. "I know that. I know all the water type Pokemon!"

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Oh ya?"

"Ya!"

"Well, what's that, then?"

"Goldeen!"

"And that?"

"Horsea!"

"And that?"

"Staryu!"

Gary frowned. _He_ was the one who knew the names of all the Pokemon, and it annoyed him that for once, he was being out-done. He scanned the lake, searching for a hard one. "What about that?"

"Oh that? That's uh, um..." Misty was finally stumped. She had never seen that Pokemon before! It looked kind of like a flying type, but its wings didn't look like they let it fly.

"Ha!" Gary shouted triumphantly. "So you _don't_ know all the water Pokemon!"

Misty faced him angrily. "Oh ya? Then why don't you say what it is?"

"That's easy! It's a, um..." Gary tried to remember. His grandpa had told him the name, but he couldn't quite recall...

"It's a Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed. "It's one of the three starters you can get where I live!"

"Professor Rowan left it here with Gary's grandpa." Leaf explained. "He left the two others too!"

"Chimchar and Turtwig?" Dawn's eyes lit up. "Are they here? I wanna see them!"

"Yeah, they're over here. Come on!" Ash began to once again run off, this time heading towards some trees.

The others followed, but Misty stayed put, watching them reluctantly. She wanted to stay by the lake and watch the water Pokemon. However, when she turned back to the lake, she paled. Some bug Pokemon had decided to come by for a drink, and bug Pokemon, like Beedrill, were swarming over the water. Suddenly, sticking with the others didn't seem like such a bad idea, and Misty began chasing after them.

"Oooo, there's Chimchar!" Dawn pointed to the fire-type swinging from a branch.

"And here's little Turtwig!" Leaf peeked at the other side of a tree to catch sight of the napping grass-type.

As they admired the two, something small and yellow darted past them, jumping into a bush.

"Whoa, what was that?" Ash peered over the bush, trying to find out what it was.

"It was probably a Rattata." Gary said, uninterestedly.

"Rattata aren't yellow." Leaf pointed out.

"Hey, I see it!" Ash finally managed to spot the little Pokemon. The others joined him, and saw a tiny electric-type, nibbling on a berry. It looked up curiously at them.

"A Pichu!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Aww, it's so tiny!" Dawn squealed.

"Careful." Gary warned. "It can shock you if it gets scared."

"No need to worry, I won't scare it!" Dawn told him.

"Yeah!" Ash chimed in. "I'm gonna be its friend, so it won't be scared of us!"

He jumped over the bush to head towards the Pichu.

"Ash, what are you doing?!" Misty called out to him. "It may be small, but it can still attack!"

"Don't worry, Mist! I'm not bothering it; I just wanna say hello!"

"But Misty's right!" Dawn said anxiously. "Sometimes, electric-types can attack even if you don't do anything to them!" She was thinking of a recent experience she had with a Plusle and Minun in kindergarten.

"It's okay." Leaf assured them. "He always does stuff like this. He'll learn."

The minute Ash came too close for the Pichu's comfort, it let out a small blast of sparks from it's cheeks. Ash ended up on the ground, his hair sticking up, and his shirt charred. The Pichu had shocked itself too, but the second it recovered, it scurried off, trying to get a safe distance away from the boy. Gary burst out laughing, while Misty and Dawn just looked worried.

"Wait!" Ash yelled, getting up and running after it. "I just wanna be your friend!"

"Actually, I don't think he'll learn." Leaf changed her mind as she watched Ash disappear into the shrubbery.

"Like, Misty? Where are you? We have to leave!" Misty heard her sister calling.

She turned to the others. "Bye, I have to go now!"

As she hurried off, there was another voice, this time calling Dawn.

"Dawn, dear?" Dawn quickly got to where her mother was.

"Aw, do we have to go already? I was having so much fun!" Dawn pouted.

"It's getting late. Say bye to your new friends, and we'll be on our way."

Dawn turned around to face where Gary and Leaf were standing a short distance away.

"Bye bye! Say bye to Ash for me too!" She waved to them. Leaf waved back, but Gary just looked like he was glad that she was finally leaving.

Soon, Dawn was in her car, chattering non-stop to her mother about her experience at the lab's ranch.

* * *

**So Dawn and Misty just happened to be in the area when they ended up visiting the lab. And since they were little, and only met once, these five probably won't even remember meeting when they meet again in the future.**

**I'm closing my poll tomorrow, so if you want to vote, feel free to! Hey, do you guys want me to tell you the results in an author's note?**

**Next weekend, next chapter! See you then!**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	23. Reading Buddies

**Hello everyone! **

**I'm actually surprised I'm updating today. I had so much school work, I barely had any time to write it this week! But somehow I did, and here you go! This week's chapter!  
**

**Oh, and the poll results are announced! You can check them out in the author's note at the end.**

**Today's topic was suggested by a guest reviewer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Reading Buddies**

**Grade Two  
**

**May (7), Drew (7), Gary (7), Paul (7), Ash (7), Misty (7)**

The grade two students were whispering to one another while they waited at their desks. Their teacher, Ms. Beatrix, was outside, talking to another teacher. The day before, she had announced that this year, they were going to try a reading-buddy program, where every once in a while, students from grade seven would come and make small reading groups with them, and they would read together for half-an-hour.

"Who do you think would be in our reading group?" Ash whispered noisily to Misty, who was sitting in the desk next to him.

"I don't know." Misty replied. "I don't even know any of the big kids, other than my sisters. And Gary's sister too, I guess."

"Me neither. Actually, I know some big kids, like Gary's sister, and maybe Paul's brother a bit too. But I don't think I know anyone from grade seven."

"You know my sister, Lily. She's in grade seven."

"Yeah, but I don't really want her to be my reading buddy..."

"Me neither!"

Every instantly quieted once Ms. Beatrix reentered the classroom.

"Class, the grade sevens are here." she announced. "I want all of you to be at your best behaviour with them, and show them what good students you all are!"

The grade seven students entered the room, all remarkably taller than the grade twos. They stood at the front of the class, while their teacher stood with Ms. Beatrix.

Ms. Beatrix began giving instructions. "I want you all to find a partner from this class. Then, choose one of the older kids as another partner. Each group will have two students from grade two, and one from grade seven. Is everyone clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Beatrix!" the class chanted.

"Okay everyone, make a group!"

The class became very noisy as everyone made their way to friends, or observed the older kids, trying to pick the least scary-looking ones.

"Wanna be in my group?" Ash asked Misty, who agreed immediately. Gary and Paul had already partnered up, as had May and Drew.

Misty and Ash walked around, trying to locate a free grade seven student. Both of them ended up coming face to face with Misty's sister, Lily, much to their displeasure.

"Like, Misty! What are you doing here?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is my class." Misty replied, scowling.

"Okay, like, good luck finding a reading buddy, then. All the good ones are almost taken, so, like, you better hurry up!"

Misty looked a bit relieved that Lily didn't insist on becoming _their_ reading buddy (she didn't expect her to, anyways), but she still found some truth in what she was saying.

"Come on," she urged Ash as Lily walked away to meet up with two grade two girls, Duplica and Casey. "We have to find buddy! We don't want to end up with someone boring, who doesn't even want to read with us."

The two searched, and finally found a tall grade seven student, who offered to partner up with them. He had spiky brown hair (though not like Gary's), squinty eyes, and a friendly smile.

"Hello, I'm Brock." he introduced himself. "Looks like you two could use a last member to your group!"

He seemed nice enough, so Ash and Misty accepted. Soon, once everyone was in a group of three, they all went to the school library to pick out some reading material. Ash rushed over to a shelf.

"I wanna read this one!" He held up a book that had a picture of a heroic-looking man riding a Dragonite while a Pigeot flew beside him. "It's so cool!"

"Ash, you've read that one already!" Misty said, frowning. "Let's read this!" She held up her choice. "It's about a little girl who gets lost at sea, and then makes friends with a lot of water Pokemon, like Dewgong, and Seaking, and Starmie too!"

"That's sounds boring! I wanna read a cool hero-story with lots of action!"

"No, I wanna read about water Pokemon!"

"How about this one?" Brock suggested, pulling out a book that was a bit bigger that Misty's and Ash's choice from the shelf. "In this story, there is hero who goes to find a lost ship at sea. It has many water-type Pokemon, and a lot of action too, because there are many challenges he has to face, like battling pirates. I've read it before; it's great!"

"It looks very long..." Ash observed the thickness.

"There aren't any pictures!" Misty noted as she flipped through another copy of the book that she had picked up.

"That's okay, because then you can use your imagination to see what's going on!"

"But I like looking at the water-type Pokemon pictures!" Misty whined.

"The letters are too small, and it has a lot of weird, long words in it!" Ash added. He peeked at the copy Misty was holding. "Like this one! It says tur-something."

"Turbulence." Brock read the word Ash was having trouble with. "Don't worry, I'll help you guys out!"

"But-"

"Have you three picked out a book yet?" Ms. Beatrix asked as she passed by them.

"Well," Brock started.

"Okay, we'll do that book." Misty agreed, not very enthusiastically. She didn't want them to be the only ones who hadn't picked out a book yet.

"Good! Now, enjoy your story!" As the teacher left, Brock handed the copy of the book in his hand to Ash.

"Since there are only two copies, you two can use them. I'll just look over your shoulder." he offered.

Ash grinned. "Thanks!" Even if he wasn't too pleased with the book he had picked out, Ash was starting to like this guy.

They all settled down at a table that seemed a bit too small for Brock. They decided that Misty and Ash would take turns reading aloud, with Brock helping them out with difficult-to-read words.

Ash offered to start off. He kept stumbling over words, and while his grade seven buddy did correct him multiple times, he found it too frustrating. He finally put down the book with a sigh.

"Can we read something else?" he asked, hoping Brock would change his mind. Misty might have not agreed with Ash's choice of books, but she did agree with him about wanting to read something else.

"But we just started." said Brock, frowning. "We haven't even finished the first page."

"But it's too long and _boring_!"

"And I can't even understand what's going on!" Misty chimed in.

Brock thought for a second. "I think the reason you two don't get it is because you are having difficulty reading it. Maybe I can read the first chapter out to you guys, and then you could see whether you like it or not. Trust me, once you find it interesting, it'll become much easier for you guys to read!"

Misty and Ash reluctantly decided to go through with their buddy's plan. The older boy began reading, while the two only half-listened. Misty glanced around the library to see what everyone else was doing.

Lily was talking to another girl from her class, while Casey and Duplica, as well as the other girl's grade two partners, watched them, clearly wanting them to participate more in helping them read.

May and Drew were with a grade seven boy with light green hair, who kept talking in a strange way by comparing everything with something food-related. Drew stared at him confusedly, probably trying to figure out what he was saying, while May seemed to look hungrier when the boy made a chocolate reference.

Gary and Paul, on the other hand, seemed to be having a great time annoying their seventh grade partner to death. It didn't even look like they were really reading at all, and the older red-haired boy was working hard to keep it together. Misty strained her ears to hear what they were saying, and only caught the older boy loudly say something to the other two that sounded like, "_No_, my last name is _not_ Pepper!" while Gary and Paul snickered mercilessly.

Misty was pondering what that was all about when she heard something that caught her interest.

"Quickly, he mounted his Lapras, and turned back to the others. 'I'll find them.' he said solemnly. 'And I'll bring them back.'" Brock read aloud.

Just the name of Lapras, a water-type Pokemon, was enough to make Misty listen. She realized that at one point, Ash must have started to pay attention to what Brock was reading as well, because he was currently listening to him intently.

As Misty listened to the story, she began to realize that maybe it was not boring after all, and apart from the fact that it included many water type Pokemon, it also seemed to be a very interesting story overall. Suddenly, Brock stopped reading.

"Why'd you stop?" Ash asked confusedly. "I wanna know what happens next!"

"Well, that was the first chapter. I said I'll read it to you two, and you guys can decide whether you want to continue it or not." Brock explained.

"Yeah, we do! Right, Misty?" Ash nodded his head vigorously in Misty's direction, trying to get her to say yes. Misty, who completely agreed with Ash just shrugged.

"I guess it's not bad." she said, the stubborn part of her brain refusing to let her express her childish excitement about it like Ash was.

"Okay, then we'll continue this book! Which one of you would like to read aloud next?"

Misty and Ash looked at each other before turning back to the seventh grader.

"Can you?" Ash asked hopefully. "It's a lot more fun when you read it."

"I can't read _all_ of it myself." Brock explained. "It's a reading group; we all have to take turns."

"Okay." Ash thought for a second. "Can I try again?"

"No way!" Misty folded her arms. "You already had a chance. It's my turn now!"

Brock chuckled to himself. The two had been so reluctant to read the book before, but now that they were interested in it, they were fighting over who got to read it.

"Okay class!" Ms. Beatrix suddenly spoke up. "It's time for the grade sevens to head back to their class!"

This was met with groans from the grade twos, as well as "Already?" and "But we were having so much fun!"

"But we didn't finish the book!" Ash worriedly looked over at Brock.

"Don't worry." Brock assured him. "My class would be coming over every week, so we'll meet again next week." Misty and Ash relaxed.

As the grade sevens started gathering at the door with their teacher, the two went over to their other friends.

"Hi!" May said cheerily when they came up to her. "That was fun! How was your partner?"

"He was really cool!" Ash exclaimed. "His name's Brock, and we're reading an awesome book with him!"

"Ours was okay. His name is Cilan." Drew said, looking over to his green-haired partner, who was now standing beside Paul and Gary's red-haired partner and another boy with blue hair. "He kept talking about food, though. I think he was a bit hungry."

Paul and Gary walked over, each smirking widely.

"What's so funny?" May asked, puzzled. Gary turned around to face where his grade seven partner was standing.

"Bye Chili Pepper!" he called out loudly.

"My last name is NOT Pepper!" he yelled back, looking furious. "And it's not Sauce either!" He suddenly stumbled and fell down. "What the-? When did you guys tie my shoelaces together?!"

Gary burst out laughing while Paul snickered.

"Calm down, Chili." the blue-haired boy said to him. "They're just little kids."

"Just little kids! Cress, those troublemakers are out to get me!"

"Hmmm, like a delicious meal served with extra spice!" Cilan commented.

"I'll just get new partners next week..." Chili grumbled.

"Everyone, say thank you to the grade sevens!" Ms. Beatrix reminded her students.

"Thank you grade seven!" the class chanted.

"And please remember who your partners were. It'll be easier if everyone keeps the same partners, so we can get right to reading next time!"

Both Ash and Misty were glad to be meeting Brock again next week, but it seemed Paul and Gary's partner, Chili, was less than pleased.

"You know," Misty looked down at the book they had been reading. "I really want to know what happens next. I know! I'll try to read it myself!"

"Yeah, good idea!" Ash picked up one of the copies. "I'll just borrow it from the library!"

Misty frowned. "It'll be too hard for _you_ to read, Ash. You couldn't even read the first page properly!"

Ash stuck up his nose indignantly. "Can too! I might even read it faster than you, Misty!"

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

Misty glared at him. "Then we'll have a race! Whoever can read the most before next week wins!"

"Yeah! Let's go tell Ms. Beatrix that we want to borrow these books!"

The two ran off to their teacher, with their books in their hands, and their enthusiasm for reading raised to a considerable height.

* * *

**Ash and Misty meet Brock and form their trio! And I also added in Cilan, Cress, and Chili, and Lily, and I mentioned Casey and Duplica too.  
**

**Okay, poll results! So for these results, I added in guest reviewer votes too, since they can't vote on my profile. So if you don't see the same results on my profile, it's because I added the guest reviewer results myself. If you're not sure what I'm saying, the main point is that I'm announcing the final results right now!**

**So the question was, who is your favourite out of the main-eight, and you were allowed to pick a maximum of three choices.**

**Okay, drum-roll please! (*drum-roll*)**

**In fourth place, we have Misty and Leaf, with 3 votes each! (*cheers and applause*)  
In third place, we have Ash, Gary and Dawn, with 4 votes each! (*more cheers and applause*)  
In second place, we have Drew, with 6 votes each! (*crowd loudly cheers and applauses*)  
**

**And finally, in first place...  
It's a tie! May and Paul, with seven votes each! (*crowd goes wild, cheering and throwing flowers*)**

**"Yay, flowers!" May cheers.**

**Drew grins and flips his hair, proud of his second place. Although first place wouldn't have been too bad either.**

**"Woohoo! I'm popular!" Gary embraces his popularity.**

**"Wait!" Dawn shrieks. "I didn't brush my hair!" (*camera turns away for a second, before focusing back on her*) "Okay, I'm done!"**

**Misty blinks as if realizing something and looks around confusedly. "Wait... where are we?"**

**"The author's note." Leaf explains. **

**"What's the author's note?" Ash asks.**

******Paul shrugs, deciding to just go with the flow.**

******And there you go! Congratulations, Paul and May, on getting first place!**

******Please review, and thanks for reading!**

******Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	24. Starter Excitement

**Hello, everyone! Time to update! **

**Whew, this one sure took a long time to write. It's my longest chapter yet!**

**Today's topic was suggested by _Stoll Your Gift_.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Starter Excitement**

**(Summer before) Grade Five**

**May (10), Paul (10), Drew (10), Gary (10), Ash (10), Misty (10), Leaf (10), Dawn (10)  
**

"I'm so excited!" Dawn bounced in her seat.

"I know, right!" Ash said enthusiastically. "I remember when I turned ten, I was so excited to get my first Pokemon that I couldn't sleep all night!"

"Wasn't that why you ended up waking up late that day and missed getting any of the three starter Pokemon?" Misty reminded him.

"Oh yeah..." Ash turned to the yellow Pokemon sitting in his lap. "But it all turned out okay, right? I mean, if I hadn't been late, then Pikachu probably wouldn't have been my first Pokemon, right, buddy?"

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

Dawn, along with her seven friends, was on her way to Professor Rowan's lab in Drew's limousine, which was being driven by said friend's butler. Her mother had especially reserved a Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup for her there, and since she had recently turned ten, she could choose any one of those three. All of her friends had turned ten before her, so they already had their first Pokemon. And now she could finally have her own too!

"Hey, Leaf was telling me that you were already friends with Pikachu from before. Is that true?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Yep! It was just a Pichu back then! I don't remember the first day I met it, but we didn't really used to get along back then!"

"Pika, pika. Chu."

"But when did Pichu evolve into Pikachu?" May asked. "I don't think you told us how that happened."

"I didn't?" Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess there is no time like the present, then! I remember it all as if it were yesterday..." He got a dreamy look in his eyes as he thought back to the memory.

"Pikaaaa..."

_(Flashback)_

_Nine-year-old Ash was in Professor Oak's ranch. Gary and Leaf weren't with him, because they had decided to go to the park. Ash was planning on meeting them there, but he wanted to say hi to a Pichu friend he had made first._

_"Hello, Pichu!" he called out as he spotted the tiny electric-type sitting up high on a tree branch, nibbling on an apple._

_"Pichupi!" Pichu looked down at him. They had met a long time ago, though neither could really remember exactly when. They hadn't started out very well, since the black-haired boy only seemed like a nuisance to Pichu. But Ash was persistent. When he made up his mind about making friends with Pichu, he wasn't going to back out._

_Slowly, Pichu started minding him less and less, and the both of them ended up forming a bond. Maybe they didn't hang out all the time, and Pichu didn't always listen, but they could have a little fun together sometimes without Ash getting zapped._

_"Hey Pichu, come on down!" Ash waved at it. Pichu looked at him reluctantly, and then back at the apple. It decided it would fill its tummy first._

_"Oh, come on!" Ash urged. "I'm gonna turn ten in a few months, so I thought maybe I could practice having a Pokemon with you. I know! Let's go around and we can practise battling! Like a real trainer and Pokemon!"_

_As Pichu continued to look disinterested, Ash frowned._

_"Fine! I'll battle the Pokemon myself!" He observed the area around him, and located a few Pidgey sitting a short distance away._

_Ash tried to think out a strategy. He didn't have his own Pokemon, and Pichu refused to help him, so he would have to try to battle them himself. Question was, how?_

_The answer came to him in the form of a rock. Grinning confidently, he picked it up and flung it it the direction of the three Pokemon. The stone, however, did not quite reach them, and they flew off, feeling threatened._

_Ash frowned, but caught sight of another flying-type that was standing much closer than the three Pidgey had been. He was going to get it this time for sure! _

_Aiming carefully, he pulled his arm back and used all his might to throw it at the Pokemon._

_"I got it!" he cheered. Unfortunately, when it turned to face him, he discovered that it was not a Pidgey, but instead a much more aggressive flying-type. It was a-_

_"Spearow!" the Pokemon let out a battle-cry as it dove towards him in full rage. Ash managed to duck just in time. When it missed its next, and third attacks, it glanced around and spotted Pichu, still in the tree, watching it curiously._

_"Pichu! Pi!" Pichu quickly got out of the way as the Spearow redirected its attacks towards it._

_"Hey, leave it alone! It didn't throw the rock!" Ash yelled out. But the Spearow paid no attention. Just when it nearly knocked the electric-type off the branch, the tiny Pokemon let out a jolt of electricity, shocking the Spearow, and sending it falling to the ground._

_"You go it!" Ash cheered as Pichu quickly made its way off the tree and beside its friend. But the Spearow wasn't done yet.  
_

_"Spearow!" it called out, and five more Spearow emerged from a nearby tree._

_"Uh oh." Ash stared nervously as the small flock began making its way towards them. He turned to Pichu. "Should we run?"_

_"Pichu." Pichu nodded in full agreement. _

_Both began running off at full speed, the Spearow in hot pursuit. Eventually, they found they couldn't run anymore, because their path was cut off by the lake. Ash, having been at Professor Oak's ranch many other times before, knew that it was not a good idea to jump into the lake, where a certain territorial Gyarados, who did not particularly like humans, dwelled.  
_

_Pichu and Ash faced the Spearow that had cornered them._

_"Don't worry, Pichu." Ash stood in between his friend and the flock, facing the Spearow. "No matter what, I'll save you!"_

_"Pichu..." Pichu watched him, as if suddenly understanding that he meant what he was saying. "Pichu!"_

_"What? Pichu...?" Ash turned around to see that the little Pokemon was suddenly glowing brightly. It transformed, taking the shape of another Pokemon, much larger than it previously was._

_"Pikachu!" the new Pokemon's cheeks sparked._

_"Pichu! You evolved into Pikachu!" Ash said, stunned._

_ Pikachu faced the flock, that had gotten bored of the scene before it, and was now charging at them, ready to attack._

_"Pikachuuuuuuu!" Pikachu let out a strong bolt of electricity, blasting its foes away._

_"Pikachu, that was awesome!"_

_(End of Flashback)_

"So that's how it happened." May said. "So, after that, I'm guessing that when you became Pikachu's trainer, you two got along very well?"

"Nope, not at all!" Ash admitted. "See, when I came late to get either Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle, I asked Professor Oak if there was any Pokemon left. _Any_. And it turns out he had caught Pikachu, because he had thought that I might want to keep it since we were already such good friends. But Pikachu didn't really trust me like that. As a friend, definitely, but as the one who would take care of it? No way! I ended up getting shocked a good many times! Plus, it was sort of angry at me because it thought it was my fault it ended up in a pokeball. It _really_ doesn't like being in its pokeball."

"Yeah, we know." Gary interjected.

"Kind of reminds me of the time Budew evolved." Drew said nostalgically.

"Oh yeah? How did that happen?" Misty asked.

"Well, Budew lived in my garden, so I met it when I was very little. Maybe even before kindergarten. It used to follow me around whenever I was outside, so I guess we sort of became friends that way.

"Then, about two years ago, some Beedrill came into the gardens. It was pretty normal, since they come all the time, but I think I might have gone too close to a tree that had their nest or something, because they suddenly began trying to attack me. Budew came to my rescue, and evolved into Roselia. Grass type moves aren't very effective against Beedrill, but Stun Spore was enough to slow them down while we got away."

"Wow, you guys have such exciting stories about how you got your starters!" May remarked. "For me, my dad is really good friends with Professor Birch, so I just got Torchic from him."

"I got Squirtle from Grandpa." Gary bragged. "Of course, he'd let me have the best one! It's great to have a grandpa in the Pokemon business, isn't it?"

"Squirtle was the best choice? Oh please! That's only a matter of opinions." Leaf said smugly. "Bulbasaur was the obvious choice for me, because I wanted it more than Squirtle."

"You only chose Bulbasaur because green's your favourite colour!" Gary accused.

"Maybe that's why I wanted it when I was little." Leaf admitted. "But when I grew a bit older, I wanted it because I like Bulbasaur itself."

"I got Staryu as my starter." Misty said. But then she frowned. "Actually, Daisy caught it for me the day I turned ten, because she forgot to get Professor Oak to reserve three starters with me. She caught a water-type, because she knew I'd love it, even if it weren't one of the actual starters. She was right though." Misty shrugged. "I love Staryu anyways, even if I only got it because my sisters are forgetful."

"Wasn't Psyduck your first Pokemon?" Ash pointed out. "You know, the one that followed you home from the picnic in grade two?"

"No!" Misty protested. "That dumb duck just wouldn't stop following me, and it only stayed at my house because it didn't want to leave for some reason! I didn't even catch it; it got itself caught in a pokeball lying around in my room, and that was _after_ I got Staryu. I still can't believe it followed our bus all the way back from that park way back then."

"You got Turtwig, right Paul?" Ash directed his statement at his purple-haired friend.

"Hn." was the response.

"I don't know why, though." Gary said thoughtfully. "I was sure you were going to pick Piplup! When you were comparing Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup the week before you turned ten, you decided Piplup would be the best choice, since it can learn water and ice type moves, and even some flying ones like peck. Plus it evolved into Empoleon, which was part steel, and can learn lots of different moves too."

"Hn."

"We're here!" Dawn exclaimed as a building came into sight. And not just any building; it was Professor Rowan's lab!

Dawn excitedly hopped out of the car first, ready to pick her Pokemon, even though she hadn't decided which one she was going to pick yet. But there was no need to worry! All of her friends had such great experiences with their starters; she couldn't wait to meet hers!

The moment the eight friends stepped into the lab, Dawn discovered that maybe there was some need to worry.

"Piplup, calm down!"

"Chimchar, please!"

Professor Rowan's assistants were yelling at the water-type and fire-type starters, who were apparently causing chaos all over. A Staraptor and Starly, startled by all the commotion, were flying frantically around, causing even more damage.

"Chim chim char!" Chimchar taunted, as Piplup got angrier, and unleashed Bubblebeam. A window was hit, and it shattered, creating Chimchar's escape-door. Piplup jumped out the hole after the fire-type, wanting to make it pay for... well, whatever it had done to get it angry. The two flying-types felt obliged to go out too.

"Whoa!" Gary observed the mess around him.

Dawn blinked. "What just happened?"

"I was thinking the exact same thing." a gruff voice sounded from behind the group of friends. They turned around to face a man with white hair and a white mustache who looked like he had just entered through the doors.

"He's back!" one of the assistants cried out anxiously.

"Well, yes, because this_ is_ my lab." the professor said irritatedly.

"I'm so sorry!" one of the assistants apologized. "We had some trouble with the Chimchar and the Piplup, and now they've escaped."

"We've only have Turtwig left." the first assistant looked over at the grass-type, who was peacefully finishing up the last bits of the food in front of it. It smiled sweetly at everyone, thinking that it would probably end up being picked as a starter since the other two weren't around.

Professor Rowan sighed. "We'll have to send someone to go find the other two. In the meantime, you guys should start cleaning up this mess."

"Right away, sir!" The assistants began picking up fallen papers and tidying up. Professor Rowan turned to the group of ten-year-olds.

"I am guessing that one of you is Dawn?" he inquired.

"Yeah, she is." Ash pointed to Dawn.

"Well, Dawn, I apologize for this. You will have to wait a while longer while we get those two back, so you can pick your starter properly."

"Sir, I'd like to go look for them!" Dawn declared unexpectedly.

"Hm?"

"We're talking about one of my future Pokemon! I want to do what I can to help get them back!"

"Well, it is very good of you to offer, but those two might have gone into the forest. There are many wild Pokemon there, and I just cannot allow you to go in there without the protection of your own Pokemon."

"We can go too!" Ash offered. "All of us have Pokemon, so we can all go together!" He glanced enthusiastically around at everyone else, clearly looking for their support.

"Count me in!" Misty boldly stepped up beside him. "If my friend needs help, I'll give to her, no problem!"

"It shouldn't be too hard!" Drew flipped his hair, agreeing as well.

"Sure, I guess." May said, although she was still a bit nervous about the fact that she might end up in a battle with a wild Pokemon.

"Do I have to even say it? Of course I'm coming!" Leaf chimed in.

"Yeah!" Ash turned to Paul expectantly. The purple-haired boy noticed his gaze.

"What?"

"Aren't you coming too?"

"I wasn't planning to."

"Aw, come on, Paul! Please? For Dawn?"

"Not interested."

"But Paul...!"

"Leave it, Ash. I think we have enough people." Dawn interrupted. She turned to everyone. "Thanks, everybody! You guys are such great friends!"

"Wait! Where's Gary?" Leaf reminded everyone. They searched the room, and found him seated at a table, mesmerized by a thick book.

"Gary!" Leaf called out.

"Mmhmm..." Gary responded absentmindedly

"What are you doing?"

"Reading." He tore his eyes from the pages to face Professor Rowan. "You study Pokemon evolution, right?"

"Why, yes, I do, in fact."

"So, how exactly do Pokemon evolve? Why is different for every Pokemon? I mean, some need certain items, while some only evolve during a specific time of the day. And some take a much longer time, and some much shorter, and how is it that some Pokemon, like Magikarp, evolve into something completely different, like Gyarados?" Gary bombarded the elderly professor with question after question. Professor Rowan blinked.

"Well, I have been studying evolution for many years, and I still don't know many of the answers. However, I do have some theories, though I doubt you'd be interested to hear them, since they are pretty long, and I'm sure someone your age will find them too complex and boring."

"No, I'm interested!" Gary said earnestly. Professor Rowan studied him for a moment before replying.

"Well, if you say so..."

* * *

"AAAHHH!" A loud shriek filled the air.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Ash and the others quickly turned to see whether their friend was in trouble or not.

"It's a BUG!" The orange-haired girl pointed to a tree, where there was a large Ariados. They had barely been a few minutes in the forest, and Misty already looked as if she were ready to leave any minute. "They're everywhere!"

It was true. At nearly every tree, an Ariados was settled. But they didn't look particularly threatening.

"Come on, Mist, they're not doing anything!" Ash tried to reassure her.

Misty shook her head. "No way! I can't stay here any longer; I'm going back!"

"But _Mistyyyyy_!" Ash whined.

"I'm going back!" Misty announced. "I'll meet you guys outside the forest."

"No need to worry, Misty!" Dawn called after her. "We'll meet you when we get back!"

Now, only Dawn, Ash, May, Drew, and Leaf were left. The five walked deeper and deeper in, but with no sign of neither Chimchar nor Piplup.

Dawn sighed. "I don't see them anywhere."

"Maybe they got lost." Drew said logically.

"What if _we_ get lost?" May realized, sounding terrified.

"No need to worry, May!" Leaf said, stealing Dawn's catchphrase. "Drew and I have grass type Pokemon, and grass-types are pretty good at finding their way through forests. Besides, we couldn't have gone far. We've only been here for about ten minutes!"

"Feels like much longer to me..."

"Look!" Ash pointed out in front of him. An Ariados was standing in the path. The minute it saw them, it unleashed Poison Sting at them.

The group got out the way, screaming. But the bug-type was persistent.

"Why is it attacking us?!" May screamed over all that ruckus. Drew looked back, and saw the possible reason.

"I think we went too close to its nest!" he yelled. And sure enough, there was a large web close to where they were standing.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Ash ordered, and the electric move hit the bug-type accurately. However, it decided to call its friends for back-up.

"Ariados!" Another Ariados appeared to assist the first one's attack. And then another.

Poison Sting attack was being aimed everywhere, and the friends ran in all directions to run get away. Finally, Dawn managed to end up in a small area amongst the trees, where she was not being attacked. She was saved!

"Whew! That was a close one! Are you guys-?" She abruptly stopped when she turned around to face the others. Except they weren't there.

"Hello?"

* * *

"Ash? Drew? Dawn? Where are you guys?" May called out. She had escaped the attackers along with Leaf, but the problem was, the group had gotten separated.

"Don't worry, May. We'll find them, especially with Bulbasaur helping us out!" Leaf had her Pokemon out. Although it did seem to be pretty comfortable in the forest, truth was, it was an unfamiliar place to it, and it wasn't completely sure about the way out.

"Do you think they're all right?" May asked anxiously. "Do you think they got away from the Ariados?"

"Of course they did!" Leaf said reassuringly, but mostly to stay positive, since worrying wouldn't do them any good right now. "Besides, Drew and Ash have Pikachu and Roselia. They can always help out if they need to battle."

"What about Dawn?"

"She's probably with them." Leaf said, which would have sounded very unconvincing to anyone, but seemed like a satisfactory answer for May. After all, her friend wouldn't lie, right?

* * *

"Hey Dawn! May! Leaf!" Ash yelled out.

"Pikapika!"

"Guys! Where are you?" Drew shouted out.

There was no answer.

"You think they're in trouble?" Ash asked.

Drew thought for a second. "Well, May has Torchic, a fire-type, so she should be okay if she runs into anymore Ariados, since fire type moves are super effective against bug-types. Leaf, she has Bulbasaur. It might not be very good against Ariados, but Leaf's pretty clever. She'll figure something out. And Dawn, let's just hope she's with one of the others."

The two stayed quiet for a minute, before Ash spoke up. "So, um, where exactly are we?"

Drew looked around. "Well, we're in the forest." he answered lamely.

"Any _other_ clue as to where we should head?"

Leaf's words suddenly made their way into Drew's mind. "Maybe Roselia can help. Roselia, go!"

"Roselia." Roselia emerged from its pokeball and stood elegantly beside its partner.

"Roselia, can you help us out by telling us which way we should go?"

"Rose..." The grass-type observed the surrounding area. It wasn't familiar with the forest, since it lived in Drew's mansion's gardens all its life. But it could sort of sense which way might be the safest.

"Ariados!" Before any of them could decide of a path, an Ariados located them, probably still thinking of them as intruders.

"Aria! Ariados!" A few more of its friends joined it, and Ash and Drew found themselves in trouble with no escape.

"Great. What do we do now?" Drew mumbled.

Ash stared determinedly at his opponents. "We have to battle our way out. Pikachu, I choose you!"

* * *

"Uh oh..."

"What is it Leaf?"

"Looks like we have company!" The green-eyed girl pointed up ahead, where some angry-looking Ariados looked like they were getting ready to attack.

"What do we do?!" May said frantically.

"My advice would be... RUN!" The two girls began running as fast as they could in the opposite direction from where the Ariados were. But the bug-types weren't giving up! They managed to surround the two, with no way to escape.

"We're doomed!" May shrieked.

"No, we're not! We're going to have to battle them! Bulbasaur, get ready!"

"W-what?! How are we going to do that?!"

"Use Torchic! It should have the advantage!"

"R-right!" May fumbled with her pokeball, and finally let out her little fire-type. "Now what?"

"Attack! Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf to push them back!"

Bulbasaur obeyed, and unleashed Razor Leaf. Some of the Ariados countered with Poison Sting. Since there were more than one attacks at once, Bulbasaur ended up having to be the one to back up to dodge.

"May, tell Torchic to use a fire type move!"

"O-okay!" May squeaked hesitantly. "Torchic, use a fire type move!" Her Pokemon confusedly stared back at it.

"Come on, May! Tell it to use Ember!"

"Torchic, Ember!"

"Torrrr!" Torchic's Ember attack had a much greater effect than Razor Leaf.

"Bulbasaur, Sleep Powder!"

Bulbasaur let out a blast of white powder, which hit some of their opponents, who slowly fell asleep. However, some other Ariados made huge web-walls to prevent the powder from getting on them.

"Ugh, what do we do now?" Leaf said, frowning. The Ariados were climbing their webs to prevent some of the attacks from reaching them. It was hard to get an attack to make contact.

"Ariados!" Multiple Poison Stings were launched in their direction. Neither May nor Leaf had time to react. They were going to get hit...

"Turtwig, Razor Leaf!"

"Staryu, Water Gun attack!"

The oncoming attack was intercepted. May and Leaf turned to see who their rescuers were, it it turned out to be two of their friends.

"Misty! Paul!"

"Turtwig, tackle!" Paul ordered, getting his Pokemon to knock away an oncoming Ariados.

"Staryu, Swift!" Misty's Staryu's Swift attack knocked back multiple Ariados at once.

"Withdraw!" Turtwig raised its defense to endure a Poison Sting attack.

"Bubblebeam, Staryu!" Staryu's attack hit its targets.

Leaf and May joined in the fight, and together, even though their Pokemon ended up being a bit exhausted, they managed to ward off the Ariados.

"Whew! It was sure lucky you guys came along!" Leaf sighed in relief.

"Why _did_ you guys come?" May inquired. "You were saying you didn't want to come, Paul. And Misty, you didn't want to come along because of all the bugs."

"I was outside the forest, waiting for you guys to come back, when I thought I heard you guys screaming. I thought maybe you guys were in trouble, and came running! I couldn't find you, but I did run into Paul." Misty explained.

"What about you, Paul?"

"I got bored waiting in the lab. I decided to come out here and train Turtwig a bit. And then Misty appeared out of nowhere."

"Hm, but isn't training Turtwig against poison type Ariados a bad idea?" Misty reasoned.

"No. Why?"

"Turtwig can end up getting really hurt! Poison type moves do a lot of damage against it." May chimed in.

"If Turtwig can't stand a small Poison Sting attack, then that means I'm not training it hard enough."

May looked shocked at Paul's uncaring, while Misty looked furious.

"But Paul...!"

"May, Misty, we can criticize Paul's training methods later." Leaf interjected seriously. "Right now, we need to search for the others."

"Where are they, anyways?" Misty wondered.

"We got attacked by some Ariados, and then we all got separated!" May moaned. "We can't find them!"

"Come on!" Leaf led the way. "They might be in trouble!"

* * *

"Pikachu, Thundershock again!"

"Piiiiikaaaa!"

"Roselia, another Petal Dance!"

"Rooooselia!"

Ash, Drew, and their Pokemon were exhausted. They had been battling for a while, but it wasn't enough. They needed help!

"Ash! Drew!" The two boys turned around to find Leaf, May, Misty, and Paul running up to them. "We finally found you!"

"Yeah, we really need some back-up right now!" Ash said, grateful that they now had more help.

After some more intense battling from all six of them, the Ariados finally left.

"It's great you guys came when you did." Drew said.

"Yeah, we were at our limit!" Ash added.

"So, is that everyone?" Leaf counted everyone in the group. "No, wait, we're missing someone."

"Where's Dawn?" May asked.

Everyone looked at one another, and then headed out to locate their last, missing, Pokemon-less friend.

* * *

Okay, she was in a bit of a bind. Her friends were nowhere to be seen, and running off in a random direction hadn't helped either. Dawn was now completely and utterly lost.

"Pip! Piplup pip!" A cry of distress caught her attention. She ran to find the source, and came across a huge Ariados web, on which some Pokemon like Weedle were caught. But the most noticeable captive was a blue Pokemon, stuck right in the middle.

"Piplup!" Dawn cried out. "Don't worry, I'll get you out!"

"Aria-ariados!" An Ariados appeared, no doubt to protect its web.

"Ariados, you let Piplup go!" Dawn commanded.

The only response to this was a Poison Sting attack, which Dawn avoided.

"Wait!" Dawn suddenly got an idea. "Come on Ariados! Come and get me!"

Her taunts got the bug-type to follow her, launching poorly aimed Poison Sting attacks after her. Dawn managed to evade the attacks, and Ariados followed her, going in a circle. They ended up with Dawn standing in front of the web, with Ariados facing her.

"Pip-piplup!"

"No need to worry Piplup!" Dawn winked at the Pokemon stuck on the web behind her. "I'm gonna get you out of there!"

"Pip?"

"Ariados!" The frustrated bug-type unleashed Poison Sting one more time. Dawn got out of the way, causing the attack to hit the Ariados's own web.

"Pip-pip-pip!" Piplup fell as the web was torn to shreds.

"Gotcha!" Dawn succeeded in catching it in her arms.

Unfortunately, all of this made the Ariados _extremely_ angry, and it came after them, fully enraged.

"Pip-lup-lup-lup!" Piplup hit with a Bubblebeam, and while it was distracted, Dawn and the little blue Pokemon ran off.

They stopped after a while to catch their breath.

"I think we lost it." Dawn gasped, straightening out. She looked around. They were hopelessly lost now. Oh well, it wasn't like she was any better before.

"We need to find the others." Dawn said, although she had no idea how. "Come on, let's go this way."

"Pip!" Piplup refused, too stubborn to follow directions.

"Come _on_ Piplup! You're the reason we got into this mess in the first place! This is all your fault, you know."

"Piplup!"

"Fine, Mister Stubborn, how about I just-" She stopped her sentence suddenly when some rustling in a nearby bush caught their attention.

"Pip?" Piplup sounded nervously.

"I think we should go now." Dawn suggested, eying the bush warily.

"Pip Piplup!" Piplup agreed for once.

The two walked together for a bit, when they ran into trouble yet again. This time, it didn't look like it would be as easy to get out of it.

The Ariados, whose web had been destroyed earlier, had returned, and this time with many others.

"Run, Piplup!" The two tried to escape, but failed when the Ariados created a large web-cage around them.

"Pip-lup-lup-lup!" Piplup's Bubblebeam made an opening through the web, but just as they were about to pass through it, Dawn tripped. An Ariados's String Shot had caught her boot and was holding her back.

"Go on, Piplup! I'll be fine!" Dawn urged. She tried to take off her boot, but some of the String Shot had hit her leg too. "Go on!"

Piplup looked back at her, unsure of what it should do, since it was clear that she was _not_ going to be fine. As the Ariados aimed their attacks at Dawn, she braced herself. But the attacks didn't reach her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Piplup was standing between her and their enemies, and was glowing brightly as it endured the attacks. It suddenly unleashed a powerful blast against the Ariados, blasting them all away.

"Wow." Dawn whispered. "That was Bide, one of the coolest moves I know...

* * *

"Dawn, there you are!" The blue-haired girl found herself a prisoner to her friend May's hug. "I was so worried! We couldn't find you, and then we saw that explosion, and then-!"

"Calm down, May, I'm fine!" Dawn insisted.

"We were looking all over for you." said Ash. "You had us all worried!"

"Well, at least you didn't get caught by those Ariados." Drew pointed out.

"Actually, I did." Dawn admitted. She knelt down to Piplup's level. "But Piplup saved me. You're my hero, Piplup!"

"Piplup!" Piplup proudly stuck up its chest.

"So, how do we get back to the lab?" Drew wondered.

"We go that way." Paul pointed in a direction.

"What makes you so sure that's the way?" Leaf asked with a raised eyebrow.

Paul said nothing, but he pointed towards the sky. Everyone looked up, and saw the Staraptor and Starly from Professor Rowan's lab, heading in the direction Paul had pointed to. Chimchar was being held by Staraptor.

"Let's just go back now." Misty said tiredly. "It's been a long day, and I don't want to have to see a single more icky bug-type!"

* * *

"So, Dawn, here are the three Pokemon you get to choose from."

It was later now, and everyone was back at the lab. Professor Rowan now had Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup on a table, and was presenting the three of them to Dawn.

"Come on!" Ash urged Gary, who was focused on some Pokemon evolution charts that the professor had given him. "Dawn's about to choose!" The spiky-haired boy begrudgingly got up and got to where his friends were standing.

"The grass-type, Turtwig." Professor Rowan gestured to Turtwig, who smiled sweetly.

"Tur!"

"The fire-type, Chimchar."

"Chim-chimchar!"

"And finally, the water-type, Piplup."

"Piplup!"

"I already know who I'm going to choose! Piplup!"

"Piplup!" Piplup proudly stuck out its chest.

"Chim?!" Chimchar seemed surprised at her choice.

"Piplup and I have already been through a lot together, haven't we?"

"Pip-pip!"

"Okay, then. Here is its pokeball." Professor Rowan handed her the red and white ball.

"Thanks so very much, sir!" Dawn thanked happily.

"Congratulations, Dawn." Drew congratulated.

"Yeah!" Ash chimed in. "Now you have a Pokemon too!"

"Thanks everyone!" Dawn exclaimed, beaming.

Now she too had her very first Pokemon. And she definitely had an interesting story behind it, too!

* * *

**And done! You have now reached the end of the chapter! (obviously)**

**Okay, I have a little thing I want to say. School's getting busier and busier for me, and because of that, I'm not getting as much writing done. Even my weekends are busy! Sometimes, I only get a chance to start writing on Friday, and then I finish up on Saturday mornings. So, what I'm saying is, sometimes I might update late. **

**Well, technically, if I update on Sunday, it won't be late, since for my schedule, I say I'll update on the weekends, and Sunday _is_ part of the weekend. I am going to continue trying to update as soon as possible, but if an update is late (might be after the weekend as well), it's because I'm busy. Just wanted to give a heads up!**

**Okay, you might be wondering how I managed to finish this chapter _and_ make it my longest yet when I said I'm not getting enough writing time. My answer is, I'm not sure. Maybe it was because I knew exactly what I wanted to write, so I could write non-stop. Maybe it was because I woke up early today, so I got to start writing early. Again, I'm not sure. I surprise myself sometimes too!**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	25. Valentines Day

**Hello, everyone! Sorry about the later-than-usual update. Been busy. Okay, let's read on!**

**Today's topic was suggested by _pikagirl28271_.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Valentines Day**

**Grade Three  
**

**May (8), Drew (8), Ash (8), Misty (9), Gary (8), Paul (9), Dawn (8)**

May hummed to herself cheerily as her pencil crayon moved back and forth on the page.

"Done!" She held it up to admire her work.

It was a large, pink, heart-shaped Valentines card, bordered with white lace ribbon, and with three chocolates in red wrapper pasted in the middle. It was perfect! Carefully, May wrote a note, and printed 'For Dawn' on it as neatly as she could. Then, tucking her masterpiece into a pink envelope, May got started on the next card.

Since Valentines Day was coming up, her class was having a small Valentines Day party. Her teacher, Mrs. Primm, had said that everyone has to make cards for each and every classmate, even if it wasn't a friend. That way, it would guarantee that everyone had an equal number of cards or gifts, so no one would feel left out.

May had bought cards for everyone in her class, but she had wanted to make her friends' cards by herself, to make them more special. Of course, her mother had to help her a couple of times to make sure the cards were looking their best. There was no way May could have managed to border Dawn's card with lace so neatly by herself.

Her mother had also helped her make Misty's card in the shape of a Luvdisc. May knew that Misty was not a girly-girl, and did not really like anything mushy. So she had had the ingenious idea of making her card a Luvdisc, a heart-shaped water-type Pokemon. Misty _loved_ water-types.

Ash's card was a red heart, with some Pokemon stickers on it. And she also added on an extra chocolate, since she knew how much he loved those little treats. She was proud that she resisted the temptation of devouring all of them herself, although she had to keep reminding herself that they were for her friends, and not her.

She had made Leaf's a pink heart with red and green stripes. Green wasn't a Valentines colour, but it was Leaf's favourite, so no doubt she would love it. Leaf didn't go to the same school as her, though, but she could have Gary send it, since, he lived right next-door to her.

Gary's card was red, like Ash's, with many Pokemon stickers on it as well. They were mostly stickers of strong-looking fully-evolved Pokemon, since those were the kind he was most interested in.

Paul had been tricky. Ash loved getting cards, and Gary was fine with it, mostly because he could then show-off how many cards or chocolates he got, and Drew always liked receiving cards too. None of them were concerned about how Valentines cards and hearts were girly or anything. But Paul was a different story. He disliked anything romantic or love-related in general, meaning May had to be careful with how she made his card, so it would not end up in the garbage. She ended up with a blue card with a small red heart in the middle. Since he wasn't crazy about too much sweet chocolate, she especially picked out three small ones for him from the store, since they were slightly bitter instead of completely sweet.

Now, she was working on the final card: the one for Drew. Her mother had helped her draw a large red rose on the front of the card, since he seemed to like roses. Now, she was drawing a picture on the back. It was of him, standing outside on a sunny day, with many red flowers (since May was having difficulty making them look like roses) surrounding him.

She giggled as she coloured his green hair. It looked just like grass! Before she knew it, she was drawing flowers sticking out of his hair. Suddenly, she realized what she had done. She had just made Drew look like he had a garden on his head, and on his Valentines card too! She had to find some way to fix it...

"Whatcha doing?" May's little brother Max arrived, distracting her from her current problem.

"I'm making Valentine cards." May answered, stuffing the card into an envelope so he wouldn't see it. If he did, he might think she did it on purpose, and he might tell her mom, and then her mom might think she was making fun of her friend. She'll just have to find some way fix it later, when no one else was around.

Max noticed the pack of chocolates on the table. "Can I have a chocolate?"

"No!" May said quickly, pulling them out of reach. "There are only three left, and they are going to be for Drew!" Okay, so maybe she hadn't _completely_ resisted eating _some_ of the chocolates. At least she had managed to save enough for all her friends.

"Please? Just one?" May hesitated. As much as she found it hard to resist her little, five-year-old brother's pleading look, she knew she had to save the chocolates for Drew. So she did the one thing that worked when she wanted her brother to go away.

"Mom!" she called out. "Max won't let me work!"

Her mother, Caroline, who had evidently been working in the kitchen, walked into the room. "Max, are you bothering your sister?"

"No. I just want one, teeny tiny chocolate. Just _one_."

May's mother turned to her. "I don't see how it would hurt to give him one. You did have so many in that chocolate pack."

"Now, I only have three. And I need them for Drew!"

Caroline put her hands on her hips. "May Maple, have you been eating the chocolates yourself? I am pretty sure there should have been more left."

"I only ate three!" May said quickly. Three plus eight.

"Hmm, maybe there weren't that many chocolates after all." May's mother said, although she seemed doubtful as she eyed the empty wrappers lying on the floor. She thought for a minute. "Alright, you finish up. Max, do you want to have some cookies? I made some Valentines ones."

"Okay!" Max hurried to the kitchen to get started on those delicious treats.

"Wait, I want some too!" May ran after him, not wanting her brother to finish all of them before her.

Caroline smiled after the two. She noticed all the cards in their envelopes, sitting on the table. May had been working hard for so long; Caroline decided to finish up for her. She noticed that the envelope that had Drew written on it had a card inside, but no chocolates, so she tucked the final three into it. She then got to work sealing all the envelopes.

* * *

It was the next day, and more specifically, Valentines Day! After dropping Max off in kindergarten, May excitedly began walking to class, the bag full of the cards in her hand.

"Why, if it isn't my little gingerbread cookie!" A voice sounded from behind her. May turned around.

"Hi Harley!" she said cheerfully in a sing-song voice, greeting the high-school student 'friend' she had once made a long time ago.

"Now, what have you got there?" Harley, who had a tray in his hands, noticed the bag she was holding.

"They're Valentines cards." May explained. "We're having a party, so I had to make cards for everyone!"

"Oh, we don't have Valentines parties in my _high school_ class." Harley said, emphasizing 'high school'. "But, I decided to make some cookies for everyone. You want one?" He offered her a cookie from the tray he was holding.

"Thank you!" May carefully placed her bag down by her feet while she picked out one. Which was exactly what Harley had been expecting her to do.

"Whoopsie!" he said, as he 'accidentally' nudged (more like kicked) the bag, making all the cards fall out, scattered on the floor.

"Oh no!" Abandoning her cookie, May knelt down to gather all the cards and put them back into the bag.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Harley 'apologized'. "My bad! Well, my sugar plum, I would love to stay and help, but my hands are a bit full with this tray right now, and I need to get to class. "Later, honey bun!"

"It's okay Harley." May said, thinking he was being sincere. But he had already left.

"Need some help?" A girl from her class named Brianna asked, noticing the trouble May was having.

"Thanks!" May gladly accepted the helping hand, and the two made it to class after cleaning up.

Meanwhile, outside, Drew was stepping out of his limousine.

"Are you _certain_, Master Andrew?" his butler asked, eying the large bag Drew was carrying with a lot of effort.

"I'm fine!" Drew insisted. He briefly let go of the bag with one hand to flip his hair confidently. "I can carry this myself!"

"Are you absolutely sure? I can carry it for you."

"Yes, I'm fine." Drew struggled a bit, before managing to start walking towards the school. "See?" Of course he could carry the bag all by himself. He was in grade_ three_ now, not kindergarten. His butler never seemed to let him do things on his own.

"If that is what you wish, Master Andrew." The butler watched him dubiously until he had seen that the boy had entered through the school doors before driving off.

Drew dragged the bag along with him, heading for his grade three class. It was a lot heavier than he had expected. He didn't have just cards in there, but small goodie-bags for each of his classmates as well. Doing this by himself gave him a feel of independence, but he found himself regretting declining his butler's help a small bit. He paused for a moment, putting the bag down beside him to take a break.

"Well, if it isn't Drew. Hi!"

Drew turned, as he recognized the voice, coming face to face with an older girl.

"Hi Solidad." he greeted politely.

"You need help with that?" She gestured to the bag he had been handling. Drew thought for a second. He had had enough 'independence' for one day.

"Yes please. Thank you." Then, feeling extremely lucky about having a high school student as his friend, Drew led her over to his class.

* * *

May quickly slipped the last card from her bag into a box. There! All done! Every student had a box made especially for them, in which everyone else was putting the Valentines Day cards and gifts.

May noticed Brianna placing an extra-large card in Drew's box. She caught her eye, and Brianna smiled, putting her finger to her lips. May nodded in return, confirming that she won't say anything to Drew.

"Hi, May!" Dawn hurried up to her. "My box looks very full. Can't wait till we get to see what we got! What about you?"

"Yeah! I hope I got a lot of candy!" May said, imagining how much candy was in her box.

"Hello! Your favourite person, Gary Oak, is here!" Gary announced as he strutted into the room. He eyed his nearly-full box and grinned. "Yep, I'm definitely everyone's favourite!"

"No, your not." Misty came up behind him, looking annoyed, Ash following closely behind. "_Everybody's_ box is that full."

"Hey, where is Paul?" Drew wondered, coming up to the group.

"Over there." Dawn pointed to Paul's desk, where said boy was sitting grumpily, evidently in a sour mood. "Even_ he_ brought cards. He said his brother made him."

"Oh ya!" Gary remembered something, and he quickly began pulling something out from his school bag. "Leaf sent everyone cards. She said she didn't send any candy too because then she thinks I might take all of them instead of giving them to you. Hmph! As if!"

"I have something for Leaf too!" May quickly handed over the card she had made for her friend. It seemed the others had had the same idea. "I wish I could have given it to her in person."

Gary shrugged. "Maybe next year. She _was_ saying something about moving to this school."

He handed the cards to whomever they were sent for, before heading over to his classmates' boxes with Misty and Ash to fill them even more with the cards they had brought.

Later, Mrs. Primm brought heart-shaped cookies and red fruit-punch for everyone, which were to be eaten in a short while, and they began their little party.

May excitedly emptied her box, looking through everything she received, especially pleased with the cards her friends had given her.

Gary was counting everything he had gotten, getting ready to compare the number with others. Drew tried to point out that he probably got the same number as everyone else, but Gary was convinced someone had given him extras.

Apparently, nearly everyone had found some kind of way to make Misty's cards non-girly. She was very satisfied with what she got, and particularly adored the Luvdisc card from May. However, it seemed Gary had given her a Combee-shaped card saying 'Com-bee my Valentine' as a joke, because he knew she hated bug-types. Losing her temper, she chucked it accurately at his head without being caught by Mrs. Primm's sharp eyes, since the teacher was getting the punch and cookies ready on a table.

Dawn thanked her friends for the cards and gifts they had given her after she looked through them. She reached Paul's desk to thank him. The cards he had given everyone were store-bought and very plain, although Dawn had noticed that he had stuck one chocolate on every card that was for those in their friend-group.

"Thank- what are you doing?" Dawn became distracted as she noticed that instead of reading the cards, Paul was yanking all chocolates and candies off them and putting them in a pile.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he muttered without looking up, still focused on his task.

"You're only taking the candy? I thought you didn't like sweet stuff."

"I don't. They're for my brother."

Dawn smiled. "That's very nice of you, giving him all that candy!"

"You think I'm gonna just give it to him? No, I'm gonna sell it to him." He counted the number of treats he had gathered up so far. "Not bad. That's more than last year. I'll probably get a pretty good price this time."

Dawn made a face. "Never mind..."

The next card he pulled out was a blue one with a small red heart in the middle and three chocolates in brown wrapper pasted on. Dawn recognized them as being the bitter-flavoured ones which she had seen at the store. The card had 'From May' written on it. Paul paused for a moment, read the card, smirked, and pocketed the chocolates from May before continuing with his work.

"WOW!" someone exclaimed. Dawn turned to see Ash admiring an extra-large card. "Look at the size of the chocolate!" There was a huge heart-shaped chocolate that had come with it.

As Ash gobbled it up, Dawn noticed a shy, quiet girl named Serena, who was sitting at the back, watching him, a tiny blush on her face, before she went back to her own cards.

Dawn gasped loudly, making the connection. "Did you see that?" she whispered loudly to Paul.

"No." he answered bluntly, his eyes still trained on the candy-counting. "Now go away."

Dawn frowned. "Glad to!" She walked over to May to see what she thought of the card she had given her.

May had picked up the card she had received from Drew. She glanced over at her green-haired friend as she opened up the envelope.

Drew was slowly reading through all of his cards and gifts at his own pace. When he reached Brianna's he easily guessed who it was from, and sent her a smile across the room. This resulted with the girl blushing and smiling proudly at the acknowledgement.

May suddenly noticed the next card that Drew had in his hand. It was the one from her. She suddenly remembered something: she had not fixed that little mistake she had made. She had gotten distracted with the cookies her mother had baked, and had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be fixing the card! What if Drew thought she was making fun of him? What it he got upset and offended? What if he didn't want to be friends with her anymore and stopped talking to her and their whole friendship became ruined?

She had to stop him before it was too late! With Drew's unread envelope still in hand, she got up, and began walking towards her friend.

Drew had opened the envelope, and was about to pull out the card, when suddenly, his eyes widened as if remembering something. He got up, and began walking towards May's desk. The two of them met halfway.

"Hello." May said, anxiously, rocking back and forth a bit. She glimpsed at the card in Drew's hand. Had he read it? He didn't look angry...

"Hey." Drew calmly flipped his hair, acting nonchalant. But May noted that his eyes had flickered to the card which she was holding. "So, did you read my card?"

"Not yet. Did... did you read mine?"

"I was about to." He looked at the card, before turning back to May. "You know, maybe you should just... forget about mine."

May blinked. "Huh? Why?"

Drew shrugged. "Because, you know, you already have so many, so mine's probably not gonna make a difference. And... oh, forget it! Look," He looked her in the eye. "I kind of made a mistake in the card I gave you, and then I forgot to fix it. So... I was just thinking that maybe you shouldn't look at it."

May was stunned. "I made a mistake on your card too!" she admitted. "I was going to fix it, but then Max came, and my mom made cookies, and my mom closed all the envelopes, and then I forgot."

"So we both made a mistake on each other's cards. That means we're even." Drew was now looking at the envelope in his hand interestedly, curious as to what the mistake was, not unlike how May was observing her envelope.

"Why don't we both open them?" May suggested. "We both made mistakes, so it's okay right? We won't get angry at each other?"

"Yeah." Drew agreed, and both opened the envelopes, taking out the cards that they had received from each other.

May's card from Drew was extremely fancy-looking. May loved it, but when she read it, she frowned. Instead of it saying 'To May', it had 'To February' written on it. And even in the note, it said 'Thanks for being such a great friend, February!' instead of 'May'.

Drew raised his eyebrows when he saw May's drawing on the card she had given him. He looked up at her.

"Flowers in my hair?" He had an amused look in his eye.

"My name is May!" May pouted, but she didn't stay like that for long. Instead, she burst into giggles, mostly from relief. Even Drew chuckled a little.

"Well," he said, "it's definitely more interesting than all my other cards."

"And I don't think I'll ever forget who _this_ was from!"

The two chuckled a bit more, until Mrs. Primm announced that they could now have the cookies and punch.

Gary's disappointment at finding out that he hadn't obtained any extra gifts was extinguished when he picked out the biggest cookie for himself. Ash thoroughly enjoyed his cookie, and asked for another before anyone else. Misty discovered that she particularly liked the punch. She and Dawn joined May at her desk to chat while they enjoyed their snacks. Drew sat with Gary, Ash and Paul at Gary's desk. Paul seemed to be sure of the fact that he could get at least five dollars out of Reggie with all the candy he had collected.

Overall, it had been a great party for all of them.

* * *

**And there you go! One Valentines Day chapter!**

**One hundred. I've got one hundred reviews now! I am so happy everyone, thank you! I've also gotten 31 favs, and 37 follows! Wow, that's a lot! I want to give a special thanks to every one who's been following, faving, reviewing, and just reading this in general for all your support. Thanks! :)**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :D**


	26. Playing House

**Hello everyone! **

**So sorry about the late update again! Friday and Saturday were just too busy for me. Anyways...  
**

**Today's topic was suggested by... my sister! Yes, she's a reader too. She just gives me her reviews in person.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Playing House**

**Kindergarten**

**May (5), Drew (5), Gary (5), Paul (5)  
**

Rain was pouring down outside, so, for recess, Ms. Kelly's kindergarten class decided to spend the time indoors. There were plenty of activities to keep the children busy, from colouring, to looking at books, to playing with toys, and even playing dress-up. And playing dress-up was what a little girl, wearing a bright red bandana, was busy doing.

May, while she was enjoying her play, came across a little problem. It was fun dressing up, but it made her want to play pretend. But she couldn't play pretend with just herself! She needed more people. Luckily, she already had a pretty good idea of who to ask at times like these. Drew, Gary, and Paul, of course! After all, what are friends for?

Drew's grassy-green hair signaled her from the table where she and her friends usually sat. The boy was busy creating a colourful picture with crayons.

"Drew!" May hurried up to him. "I need your help!"

"What is it, May?" Drew turned to her concernedly.

"Can you play with me? I want to play, but I only have myself to play with."

"Oh." Drew glanced at his masterpiece-to-be. "But I'm colouring beaut-full scene-ree."

"Please? I only want to play for a little bit?"

Drew thought for a second. If they were only going to play for a little bit, then he would probably have plenty of time to finish colouring before recess ended. It seemed reasonable enough.

"Okay." he said, nodding and getting up. "What are we playing?"

"We need to find Gary and Paul first." she directed seriously.

After a minute of searching, they tracked down Gary trying to make the highest tower out of blocks, and refusing to share with the other children. They had to try really hard convincing him to abandon him tower, finally getting him to listen when Drew told him that what they were going to play was _much_ better than what he was doing. Despite the fact that May still hadn't told him _what_ they were doing.

The three located their purple-haired friend, Paul, soon after. He was sitting alone by the bookshelf, looking through a book with many words that he claimed he could read. Drew had learned a bit of reading because of his tutors, so it didn't seem like an impossible task to him, but Gary was convinced Paul just looked at the pictures, pretending he could read such a hard book.

"Paul, we need help!" May said, trying to catch his attention.

"Ask Ms. Kelly." Paul responded without looking up.

"Ms. Kelly can't play with us. She's the teacher." Drew pointed out.

"I don't wanna play." Paul said.

"Please!" May begged. "Just a tiny bit! A _teeny tiny_ bit!"

"No."

"If he doesn't have to play, then I don't have to." Gary declared, planning to start heading back to his blocks.

"Wait!" May cried. "But you _have_ to play!"

"Why?" Gary demanded.

"B-because!"

"Why?"

"Just because!"

Gary thought for a second. It seemed like a logical answer...

"Come on, Paul." Drew urged. "It'll be lots of fun!"

Paul looked doubtful, but he gave in. He, Drew, and Gary followed May to a corner of the class where there was a plastic kitchen set, and a box full of dress-up clothes.

"What're we gonna play?" Gary asked, facing Drew. After all, it was Drew who had told him they were going to play something better than building with blocks.

"Um..." Drew thought for a second, realizing he didn't know himself. He turned to May.

"House!" May exclaimed enthusiastically. "We're gonna play house! I'll be the mommy, and you can be..." She studied her friends, trying to decide what role would fit them best. The three boys groaned.

"You said we were gonna play something fun." Gary accused Drew.

"I don't wanna play house." Paul said sulkily. "I wanna read."

"You can be the baby." May directed Drew, whose frown became wider.

"I don't wanna be the baby!"

"I wanna play something fun!"

"I don't_ wanna_ play house."

"And then who's gonna be the daddy?" May wondered, trying to see whom the role fit best between Paul and Gary.

"I can be the daddy." Gary said suddenly, as if a thought occurred to him. He turned to Drew. "You have to go to have nap time now."

"I don't wanna be the baby!" Drew whined.

"I don't wanna play house!" Paul scowled.

"And Paul, you can be the uncle, or the big brother, or..." May tried to select a choice.

Paul became alert at 'big brother'.

"I can be the big brother." he offered.

"Okay!" May cheered.

"But I hafta go study." he explained. He triumphantly walked back to the bookshelf, where he selected the book he was looking at before to get back to reading.

It was a trick his older brother Reggie had pulled on him countless time. Whenever Reggie wanted to be left alone by Paul, he'd just tell his little brother that he needed to study and to not disturb him. Paul had once walked into his room to discover that Reggie was actually _not_ studying, but instead playing some game on his laptop.

"Bye bye!" May waved to him, happy that he was playing too.

Meanwhile, Gary and Drew had gotten into an argument.

"You _have_ to! Cuz I said so!" Gary ordered.

"I don't wanna go to sleep! I don't wanna listen to you!" Drew shouted back.

"But you have to! Cuz _I'm_ the daddy, so _I'm_ the boss! You're the baby, so you have to do what I say!"

"I don't wanna be the baby! I'm not playing!" Drew scowled and turned away with his arms folded.

"But you said you were gonna play!" May reminded him, upset at his sudden changed decision. "You were gonna be the baby."

"I don't wanna be the baby!" Drew repeated. He turned to May. "Why can't _you_ be the baby?"

"Cuz I'm the mommy! And you can't be the mommy, cuz you're a boy."

"I don't wanna be the mommy either."

"I'm bored." Gary announced. "I'm gonna play with blocks."

"Wait!" May desperately called out to her friend, who had begun to walk away. "You can't go!"

"Yes I can!"

"But we were gonna play house!" May cried. Her whole game was being ruined! Neither Drew nor Gary wanted to play with her.

"What's going on here?" Ms. Kelly asked a bit exasperatedly, arriving at the scene of the argument.

"They don't wanna play with me." May accused, sniffling a bit as she pointed to her two friends.

Ms. Kelly sighed. "May, dear," She bent down to her level. "You can't force others to play with you. They _are_ your friends, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything with them. Sometimes, friends want to do something else, too."

"But they said they were gonna play with me! All three of them did!"

"Three?" the teacher repeated confusedly. "It's only Gary and Drew."

"And Paul." May pointed to where her last friend was seated. "He's the only one who's playing."

Ms. Kelly was perplexed by May's statement, as the purple-haired boy didn't seem to be playing, but instead reading like he always did. But she didn't question it, lest it start more trouble.

"May," Ms. Kelly faced the little girl. "When you try to keep telling your friends what to do or play, they start thinking you're being bossy, and it's not fun for them. Do you think you would have fun if no one else is?"

May seemed to be in deep thought for a minute, before she sadly shook her head. "No."

"So why don't you play something different that you can do by yourself? And if the others don't want to play too, don't feel upset. Okay?"

May nodded somewhat understandingly. "Okay."

"Good girl." Ms. Kelly smiled warmly before patting May on her head and walking off to attend to some of the other children. May turned to Gary and Drew.

"Do you want to play with me?" she asked hesitantly.

"No!" Gary didn't miss a beat with his answer one bit before he rushed away to attend to his half-completed tower.

Drew felt a bit more sympathetic than his spiky-haired friend, as well as a bit guilty for letting his May down. "You can colour with me if you want." he offered.

"Okay." May accepted before walking up to Paul. "We're not playing house anymore." she informed him solemnly.

"Hn." Paul didn't really care, as it didn't make a difference to him.

May, glad that he didn't seem to be disappointed, went back to join Drew at the the table. She got a fresh sheet of paper from the small stack in front of her.

"What're you drawing?" Drew asked after a while.

"A house." May showed it to him. "And here is the mommy over here." She pointed to a small person she had drawn standing in front of the house.

"What about the daddy? And the baby?" Drew inquired.

"They didn't wanna play." May explained sadly.

Drew stared at the lonely 'mommy' before grabbing a crayon and adding something to the picture. "Here's the daddy." he said, as he made another person in the picture.

May smiled, and added something else on with her crayon. "And this is the baby!"

"And the big brother over here!"

The two continued adding more and more people to to picture, eventually bringing in grandparents and siblings and friends and teachers. They both felt the end result was a masterpiece!

And it looked like May got to play house in a way after all.

* * *

**Done! Another day of kindergarten.  
**

**Didn't think I'd update today at all, actually, but looks like I did. I'll try to update earlier next time, but no guarantee.**

**Please review and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


	27. Dodge Ball Battle

**Hello everyone! Update time!**

**Today's topic was suggested by _QUEENSPELLER67__._**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!**

* * *

**Dodge Ball Battle  
**

**Grade Four  
**

**May (9), Gary (9), Drew (9), Paul (9), Misty (9), Leaf (9), Dawn (9), Ash (9)**

Many grade four students stood together, noisily chatting with their friends as they waited for their gym teacher. The two grade four classes in the school had their phys-ed classes together, which was why the group was a large one, and quite boisterous as well.

A loud whistle sounded in the air, bringing the on-going jabbering to an end. The students intently observed the young phys-ed instructor standing before them. The blue-haired man looked around to confirm that he had gotten everyone's attention before beginning to speak.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Mr. Brawly, your gym class teacher, and welcome to the first phys-ed class of the year!" he said to everyone in an enthusiastic way.

The kids murmured their greetings.

"Oh, come on! Show a little more enthusiasm! It's phys-ed class; time to ride the tide of success!" Brawly made an attempt to get a more energetic reaction. A few kids awkwardly and quietly cheered, but that was about it.

"Okay, then how about we get started? Today, we'll make two teams to play dodge ball. How about we have two team leaders? Let's see..." He thought for a minute, his eyes travelling from student to student. He pointed at two boys. "You look like a good candidate! And you as well. What are your names?"

"I'm Stephan!" one of the boys, who had red hair, announced.

"And I'm A.J." the second boy, who had dark, spiky hair, introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you two, Steven and A.J! Now let's see who gets to pick his team member first."

Stephan blinked. "Actually my name is Stephan, not Steven..." When no one seemed to notice the mistake he just shrugged and faced A.J. "Whatever!"

The two had an intense rock-paper-scissors match which determined that Stephan got the first pick, since his rock won over A.J's scissors.

"Okay! I pick... Morrison!" A high-spirited orange-haired boy walked over to Stephan.

"Paul." A.J made his decision.

"Ritchie."

"Misty."

"Sho."

"Gary."

And on it went, until everyone had been picked. Predictably, A.J seemed to have only picked his own classmates as his team members, as had Stephan had. Brawly might as well have said that the teams were grade 4A against 4B.

Soon, the balls were all set, and everyone was in position. Brawly checked over to see if everything was set to go before he raised his whistle to his mouth and blew.

Chaos ensued. Members from both teams made frantic dives to get to the balls first. Those who did manage to make it to the front pushed surrounding balls to their side so that they could provide their other team members with 'ammunition'.

"Yay!" May, with her bright red bandana on her head, picked up a ball that had rolled to her feet. The game had just started, and she already had a chance to get someone! She inspected the other team, scanning her opponents. A boy with round glasses, named Clemont, looked like a good target, since he seemed to be having trouble running back and forth to avoid on-coming attacks, and was becoming slower with every step he took.

Carefully, May took aim, and was about to throw, when a ball whizzed past her head, nearly touching her.

"Eep!" May quickly jumped to another spot. She couldn't stand around like that or else she would get hit! She had to keep moving.

Thud! Clemont got the wind knocked out of him when Paul mercilessly launched a ball at his target. The blond boy groaned as he made his way off the 'battlefield'.

"Aw man!" A small shout came from Ash who dropped the ball he had been holding. It appeared he had been struck out by Ritchie. He grinned to his opponent as if to say "You got me!" as he walked to join his other team members who had been hit.

Gary got a couple of people out by catching balls thrown at him. While Paul seemed to be able to strike his victim viciously with good aim, Gary evidently was excellent at dodging attacks and catching balls.

And then there was Misty, actively dodging, snatching up balls, and getting as many of their 'enemies' out as she could. Ash loudly cheered her on as she narrowly missed hitting an opponent. The ginger-haired girl glared at her friend, blaming him for her miss-aim, since his flailing arms were proving to be a great distraction. He toned down his cheers after that.

Drew was more of a cautious player. He avoided getting hit, and seemed to be watching out for his teammates, jumping in to catch or hit away a ball that was about to strike one of his team members.

Leaf was clearly quick on her feet. She swiftly leapt this way and that, avoiding getting hit, and collecting balls to hand to her other team players, who were much better at throwing. However, someone noticed this, and began aiming right in front of her feet, causing her to make the fatal stumble that led to her being struck out.

"Come on, everyone! We can win this!" she encouraged her team alongside Ash and some others.

While most of the students were putting everything they had into their battle, there were some who were less than willing to participate, some letting themselves getting hit so that they won't have to continue playing, while some stayed at the back, where it was less likely they'd get struck.

Dawn, it appeared, was not very confident about playing. At first she stayed closer to the back, but after some urging from May, she tried to help out a bit. And failed when she realized that if she tried to take her time to find a ball and throw at someone, she'd risk herself getting hit. It wasn't losing she was anxious about. It was more the fact that some players from the other team didn't really care whom they hit, or how hard they launched the ball. She spent most of her time hidden behind a taller teammate.

May discovered a free ball lying a short distance away. Boldly but carefully, she made her way beside it, picking it up. Triumphantly, she straightened out, turning towards the opposing side to locate a possible target. But the only thing she saw was a ball heading straight for her face. She closed her eyes feeling defeated, knowing it was too late to react, waiting for the impact to arrive.

But it didn't. When she opened her eyes to find out why, she spotted Drew right in front of her, the ball in his hands, as he pointed to its thrower to tell him that he was out.

"Wow, you really saved me, Drew! That was a good catch!" May said thankfully.

"Of course!" Drew took the time to flip his hair. "What else did you expect, Ju-"

Thud!

Drew blinked in surprise before realizing that maybe it _hadn't_ been the best time to stop for a chat. Dropping the ball he had caught, he began making his way over to stand among the other players that had been struck out, all the while rubbing his arm where he had been hit.

May felt a bit guilty. If it weren't for her, Drew wouldn't have had to stop to save her, meaning he wouldn't be out now. She made up her mind that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Feeling determined, she marched daringly close to the line separating her team from the other, clutching her ball tightly in her grip. She aimed carefully and used her full strength to hurl it in the direction of the opposition.

Instead of going where she wanted it to, the ball pathetically crashed onto the floor, bounced, and rolled to the feet of a boy named Sho.

"Thanks so much for giving me this ball, May." Sho said, smirking mockingly.

May didn't last in the game a minute longer.

"Ha!" Gary screamed victoriously. "I got Stuven! I got Stuven! Stuven's out! Stuven's out!"

"My name is Stephan!" Stephan yelled furiously over the chanting. He scowled as he made his way to his other teammates.

After a while, there weren't many players left. Paul, Misty, and surprisingly Dawn were the only ones left on one side, while Trip, Ritchie, and Sho remained on the other.

Gary had been caught by surprise when a couple of his 'enemies' had plotted and teamed up against him, striking him out of the game. Paul was successfully managing to deflect any balls heading his way, although it was becoming harder for him to aim at a target since there weren't many anymore. It was no surprise that Misty was still in the game; her sport abilities and talents were well-known by all. Dawn had survived by hiding behind Paul's taller form, much to the latter's annoyance.

It seemed Ritchie just had a natural talent for dodge ball in general, and his skills were helping him immensely. Trip was somewhat shorter than most of the grade four students, so any balls thrown at him were easily avoided when he ducked, and he was also harder to aim at. And Sho was clearly an expert at catching balls in mid-air.

It was intense. For a while, it didn't seem like anyone was going to give in. Finally, after quite some effort, Misty achieved her goal of taking down Ritchie. The boy waved to her as a way of saying "Good game!" before getting to where he was supposed to be.

"Dawn, stop it." Paul growled as the bluenette darted behind him when he moved to avoid a ball. "You're distracting me!"

"Sorry!" she apologized, although she obviously wasn't about to change her position.

At that moment, a ball came flying towards them. Paul noticed, and jumped to the side in an instant. Dawn though, didn't react fast enough, and held out both hand in front of her with her eyes tightly shut, hoping to prevent her face from getting smashed.

Instead of the ball bouncing off her palms, it stayed there, and Dawn opened her eyes, taken aback by the fact that she had somehow caught it.

Staring at her was a stunned Sho, who was the culprit responsible for nearly striking her out. Realizing that he was now out because of the fact that Dawn had caught the ball he had thrown, he frustratedly stomped to where some of his other team members were standing.

"Nice catch, Dawn!" Misty complimented her friend.

"Um, thanks?" Dawn said, still a bit confused.

But she didn't get to stay in the game for long. Trip managed to throw a ball that caught her on the shoulder before she even knew it.

This was it. Trip against Misty and Paul, two of the best players. Trip seemed to suddenly realize that he was alone in this, and gulped.

"So how should we get him?" Misty questioned. "He keeps moving out of the way."

"We strike at the same time." Paul declared.

Both players snatched up a ball, carefully aiming at their victim, who kept moving, hoping to avoid getting hit. They were about to throw, when...

"Okay, class is up!" Brawly announced, blowing his whistle. "I've got to say, that was some impressive playing, but the game is over now!"

All the students stared at their teacher, stupefied.

"But our team was about to win!" Gary complained.

"Sorry, but the bell rang a minute ago, and you guys don't want to be late for your next classes."

"But Mr. Brawly...!"

Brawly paid no attention to the waves of complaints crashing down on him; his answer was final.

"Good game!" Stephan walked up to A.J to shake hands.

"Yeah, good game, Steffen." A.J replied.

"My name is STEPHAN!" the red-haired boy said loudly, but apparently, everyone remained deaf to his words.

"Do you think we would have won?" May asked her friends.

"Of course!" Gary scoffed. "We had him right where we wanted him!"

"No, _we_ had him right where we wanted him." Misty corrected, gesturing to herself and Paul. "_You_ got struck out."

"I guess we win by default." Drew figured. "I mean, we still had two players in, while they had only one."

"You so sure?" Trip drawled as he walked up to them. "I'm _pretty_ sure I could have gotten at least one more player out if there was more time."

"No, I don't think so." Dawn said thoughtfully. "They would have struck you out if Mr. Brawly hadn't blown the whistle when he did."

"Guess we'll never know for sure." Leaf commented, shrugging.

"Yeah, it was a really close game!" Ash agreed.

"No, it wasn't." Gary grumbled. "We had the advantage!"

"But the game's not over till it's over." Ash pointed out. "What if it had been turned around?"

"And how would that have happened?"

The grade four students began making their way to their next class while debating on which team would have been the possible winner.

* * *

**One game of dodge ball: done! **

**Whew, I got to update sooner than I had last week, and the week before.**

**Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)**


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